16 February 2020
The release of Nelson Mandela from prison 30 years ago was akin to the fall of the Berlin Wall three months earlier.
It was a rejection of tyranny in favour of a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
FW de Klerk used the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on February 2 1990 to announce the unbanning of the ANC and other liberation movements and release of political prisoners, showing the country how important the Sona is.
We agree with President Cyril Ramaphosa that De Klerk did not release former president Nelson Mandela and other prisoners out of the benevolence of his heart. There was pressure, internally and externally. The apartheid regime was broke and isolated, and options were very limited.
We have had many Sonas since then, but our wall dividing the majority of black people from participation in the mainstream economy stands firm.
The democratic promise, for many, remains an abstract notion.
Another Sona came and went on Thursday – taking its rightful place in archives and the life of our democracy. South Africans are waiting with bated breath to see if all the goodies promised by their government will pan out.
The president announced an array of bold initiatives to grow the moribund economy and get millions of South Africans back to work.
However, this would not be the first Sona where promises were made, only for implementation to lag.
For example, the majority of Jacob Zuma’s Sonas were anchored on the infrastructure revolution, but little has happened, which has seen construction companies scrapping for little work. The only real revolution in construction happened at his Nkandla home.
Even Ramaphosa’s four Sonas have been big on infrastructure plans, including the much-touted R700-billion infrastructure fund, with little or no tangible progress.
Unfortunately, promises alone will not grow the economy or give millions of people the dignity of work.
The time for platitudes, big plans and a big government is over.
This administration must do the small things first and well: employ competent people to lead state institutions, put in place a robust monitoring and evaluation system and, finally, put together a brutal consequence management regime in place.
If this government can implement half the ideas contained in the Sona – that is the infrastructure fund, establishment of a state bank, R10-billion for women-owned businesses and strong support for youth-owned businesses – then a lot of progress can be made.
As we have seen with the spectacular failure of the National Development Plan, government is good on promises but equally good at dropping the ball. The Sona must be a living document, giving not only hope to citizens but trustworthy as well.
The president has got another year to implement his proposals and maybe, just maybe, the next Sona will be a good report card and not a list of promises to a defeated people.
