President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to deliver his ninth State of the Nation Address on Thursday evening in Cape Town. The event will take place at City Hall due to the ongoing rebuild of Parliament following a fire four years ago. This address follows a pattern seen in previous speeches, focusing on achievements, challenges, and future plans.
The State of the Nation Address, or SONA, has a storied history in South Africa. Notable past addresses include FW de Klerk's announcement on 2 February 1990 unbanning the ANC, Nelson Mandela's 1994 speech stating “Let us all get down to work,” and Ramaphosa's 2018 address with the “Thuma Mina” call, promising a “New Dawn” after delaying the event to facilitate Jacob Zuma's departure from office.
Ramaphosa's upcoming speech marks his ninth, following last year's address from the first coalition government. It will occur at Cape Town City Hall, as Parliament's reconstruction, costing R4 billion and counting, remains incomplete since the fire four years prior.
Speeches typically begin with acknowledgments of protocols and dignitaries, followed by optimistic references to Mandela and concepts like the “dream.” Ramaphosa has highlighted locally made clothing in past addresses and introduced fictional characters such as Tintswalo in 2024 to illustrate progress.
The structure includes listing government achievements, bluntly addressing issues like the economy, poverty, crime, gender-based violence, corruption, municipal failures, infrastructure decay, and water security. Remedies often involve large-scale investments in billions, commitments to more police—despite ongoing issues revealed at the Madlanga Commission—and repeated mentions of the National Health Insurance, first promised for implementation in 2018.
Initiatives frequently feature capitalized terms such as National Dialogue from last year, Presidential Summits, Commissions, Advisory Panels, New Social Compacts, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, and Master Plans for industries like mining, steel, and clothing.
Past promises include ending hunger by 2029, halving violent crime, and introducing bullet trains connecting major cities by that year, as stated in 2019. Other announcements encompass a smart city in Lenasia based on Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, a 2023 Hydrogen Society Roadmap for a R270-billion green hydrogen pipeline, R1.2 trillion in foreign investment by 2023 from 2018 pledges, and action on the Zondo Commission Report as committed in 2021.
Speeches conclude with uplifting quotations from figures like Maya Angelou, Joseph Shabalala, Sol Plaatje, Ben Okri, Hugh Masekela, and Nelson Mandela.
