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SONA 2023: President Ramaphosa Faces Criticism Ahead Of The Event

Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of South Africa, is under increasing pressure as he gets ready to address the nation’s energy problem in his eighth State of the Nation Address (SONA). Ramaphosa pledged a “new dawn” for South Africa in February 2018, and the country’s people excitedly anticipated a better future. Six years later, however, Eskom’s problems are believed to be costing the nation one billion rand per day as the country struggles with ongoing power outages and a fast declining economy.

As a result, South Africans are becoming more frustrated and angry, and many are hopeful that Ramaphosa would use his SONA address to provide a comprehensive solution to the country’s chronic energy issue.

While attempts have been made to prevent load shedding from occurring during Ramaphosa’s address, with R8 million earmarked for the occasion and steps taken to “minimize” load shedding, many people are still dubious. Lungile Mashele, an energy specialist, voiced worry that the President would not take action that is sufficient in this regard “We’ll get more justifications, More platitudes will be offered, and we will be informed that there are several issues that cannot be fixed quickly.”

Ramaphosa is under fire for how he has handled the country’s housing problem in addition to the energy crisis. While the President pledged 500,000 housing units for South Africans in his 2019 State of the Nation Address, just little less than 14,000 have actually been delivered. Public anger has increased as a result, with many believing Ramaphosa has broken his pledges.

The current Phala Phala controversy, in which Arthur Fraser, a former director-general of the State Security Agency, filed an abduction and money laundering case against the president, has added to Ramaphosa’s problems.

The matter culminated in the formation of an impartial commission, which looked into whether Ramaphosa need to go through a procedure that would have led to his impeachment.

ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula lambasted the President in a scathing open letter, accusing him of breaking the Constitution by working other paid jobs while in office, violating Reserve Bank laws, likely evading taxes, failing to report a crime at his Phala Phala Farm, and violating his oath of office.

Along with the housing and energy crises, the Phala Phala scandal has damaged the government’s reputation. Ralph Mathekga, an independent analyst, warned that the government’s recent decision to consider declaring a state of disaster to address the energy crisis would only worsen the credibility crisis, saying that “the suspicion would be that you are trying to curtail accountability and, as a result, trying to benefit special interests out of what you’ll be doing in an environment where there’ll be none asking deeper questions and there’ll be less accountability.”

Many people are still optimistic that the President would give a SONA that will put an end to the ongoing outages and regain public trust in the administration despite the difficulties he faces. Ramaphosa will need to provide a thorough and persuasive solution if he intends to regain the confidence of the people, since South Africans are united in their outrage over the energy problem.

To sum up, President Cyril Ramaphosa has a difficult task ahead of him as he gets ready to give the 2023 State of the Nation Address. Ramaphosa would need to provide a credible solution if he intends to restore public trust in the government given the country’s ongoing power outages, quickly worsening economy, housing issue, and credibility crisis. Even if steps have been taken to prevent load shedding from occurring during the SONA, many people are still dubious, and the President is under increasing pressure to provide a statement that would convince the nation for better days ahead.

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