EFF chief whip in the National Assembly Nontando Nolutshungu says the government had failed to confront the scale of violence affecting ordinary South Africans, invoking victims of crime and the 2012 Marikana massacre as evidence of what she described as a state disconnected from the lived reality of citizens.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday in response to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Thursday, Nolutshungu launched a blistering attack on President Cyril Ramaphosa. She accuses his administration of presiding over spiralling crime, deepening unemployment and widespread municipal collapse.
“We remember the mine workers who died in Marikana, whom you characterised as cowardly criminals, after which they were mowed down by police fire,” she told the house.
Murder rates increasing
“Similarly, we remember the almost 6, 000 people who were murdered in this country between July and September 2025 alone.”
She said more than 10, 000 women and children were raped in the same period. And nearly 5, 000 motorists were hijacked. She argued that the statistics reflected a government that had lost control of public safety.
“Mr president, your government simply does not know what to do with crime anymore,” Nolutshungu said. “The extortion racket is now a parallel government running this country. It is dictating who gets what service and when.”
She cited the closure of a public clinic in a township. This happened after nurses and security guards were threatened by extortionists demanding protection fees. And she said the state was increasingly unable to guarantee basic services in crime-affected communities.
Crime now out of control
“As we speak now, a public clinic was forced to close because the government is unable to provide protection to nurses and security guards threatened by thugs,” she said.
Turning to gang violence, Nolutshungu described the Cape Flats as a “war zone where children as young as 14 carry machine guns”. She added that the president’s announcement of a military deployment to the area came too late to restore public confidence.
“Your announcement to deploy soldiers to the Cape Flats is a little too late,” she said. “It is a demonstration that we have zero confidence in the capacity of the police to fight crime.”
She called for a fundamental overhaul of policing, saying existing structures required “complete recalibration” before they could effectively address violent crime.
On the economy, Nolutshungu said Ramaphosa had failed to deliver on key promises made since taking office. These include job creation targets and sustained growth.
“When you took over from former president Jacob Zuma, you decried nine wasted years and declared ‘Thuma Mina’,” she said. “Eight years later, youth unemployment is over 50%. More than 8.2 million South Africans remain unemployed. Where are the 2 million jobs you promised?”
She argued that the economy had not achieved sustained growth above 3% during Ramaphosa’s presidency. And she accused his administration of perpetuating rather than reversing decline.
Worse than Jacob Zuma
“You are not different — you might in fact be worse,” she said. “Yours is a continuation of the wasted nine years.”
Municipal governance failures also came under sharp criticism. Nolutshungu pointed to audit outcomes showing widespread dysfunction across local government.
“Of the 257 municipalities, only 41 received clean audits from the Auditor-General,” she said. “This is not just poor administration and financial record-keeping. It is but chronic incompetence compounded by corruption.”
She highlighted struggling rural municipalities that were unable to maintain basic infrastructure, such as roads. These make it difficult for teachers, healthcare workers, and learners to access essential services.
“That is the real state of the nation,” Nolutshungu said. “Your government’s chronic incapacity to resolve the most basic service delivery problems.”
Service delivery at its lowest
Despite the criticism, she insisted that South Africa could recover under different leadership. And she urged young people to register to vote. Decisive leadership was needed to tackle unemployment, land reform, gender-based violence, and failing state-owned enterprises, she added.
“South Africa is not a lost cause. It needs leadership — resolute leadership,” she said. “But you cannot provide such leadership, Mr President. That leadership can only be found in the Economic Freedom Fighters.”
