In the week that the nation celebrated the 30-year anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison, our State of the Nation address was an embarrassment that I’m sure turned the great man in his grave.
But of course none of it was a surprise, as the EFF gave us a heads up that they would be causing the disruptions that we saw.
In fact, I’m not even sure that what we saw was a live broadcast.
Until they sort themselves out, government might as well just show us re-runs of previous SONAs, and no one would be the wiser; seems like we are seeing cut-and-paste anyway.
It is terribly frustrating to see our
leaders treat what is essentially our democracy’s sacred ground with such disrespect.
I wonder if Julius Malema realises that his support base is growing older and wiser and will eventually get fed up with his excuse for a political strategy.
CHAOS: EFF delays SONA for over an hour
Being stubborn and loudly petulant will only get you sympathy for so long and probably only from fans who act the same way in the face of authority.
But be that as it may, President Cyril Ramaphosa eventually got to make his speech, which most pundits had said would not contain anything new.
Personally, I was pleasantly surprised by
several announcements; chief among them was the new TVET colleges, the sharp focus on technology in schools, the funding of entrepreneurs and the approval of hemp and cannabis farming.
Both hold huge income potential and are long overdue.
But there was one thing that bothered me during the build-up to the SONA and I hope it’s not an indication of how these bold plans will be handled.
We heard from government last week that the former number one, Jacob Zuma, had
confirmed that he would attend.
The media raised its collective eyebrows because, just days earlier, he was too ill to attend his court proceedings.
After social media wondered about this out loud, government made an about-turn and said he had in fact not confirmed.
But we all understood that he withdrew, because his attendance would’ve been a PR disaster for him; a second middle finger to our justice system.
Either that or we have to believe that the people who can’t even get a simple confirmation right are somehow going to address youth unemployment, implement an electricity
rescue plan and eradicate crime.