CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 15: Cyril Ramaphosa is congratulated by DA Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen after being sworn in as the president of the Republic of South Africa – (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Esa Alexander)
Watch: John Steenhuisen lists his SONA 2020 expectations [video]
Steenhuisen wants Ramaphosa to offer pragmatic solutions to SA’s problems, not dreams of smart cities and intercontinental highways.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – FEBRUARY 15: Cyril Ramaphosa is congratulated by DA Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen after being sworn in as the president of the Republic of South Africa – (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Esa Alexander)
DA interim leader John Steenhuisen expects a State of the Nation Address (SONA 2020) with fewer dreams from President Cyril Ramaphosa and more pragmatic solutions to South Africa’s problems.
Watch: John Steenhuisen expectations from SONA 2020
Fresh from delivering his party’s alternative state of the nation address, John Steenhuisen spoke to the media outside Parliament about the things he will be looking for in Ramaphosa’s SONA 2020 speech.
Leader of @Our_DA @jsteenhuisen says the President has had two #SONAs about dreams,” this #SONA2020 must be about bold reforms pic.twitter.com/J7DZo1jQJI
— Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA) February 13, 2020
The DA interim leader lambasted Ramaphosa’s administration for lacking the imagination and drive to confront the real problems South Africans deal with on a daily basis.
Instead, he added, Parliament has become “a place of fairytales and spin — where the ruling party will do all it can to present a sugar-coated version of the past, present and future, and hide the ugly truth from the people”.
Speaking on his outlook for SONA 2020, Steenhuisen expected Ramaphosa to give South Africans the watered-down version of the truth.
“Last year it was high-tech cities and speeding bullet trains. What will it be this year? Already he is talking about building a Cape-to-Cairo highway, while he can’t even get the road to Mthatha fixed,” he said to muted laughter from the DA’s public representatives and supporters in the audience.
“All this while our economic doomsday clock ticks ever closer to midnight,” he said.
‘We want the truth about SOEs’ – African Independence Congress
Lulama Ntshayisa from the African Independence Congress (AIC) also weighed in on the much-anticipated SONA 2020 speech, stating that he expects Ramaphosa to offer a fresh turnaround strategy for struggling state-owned enterprises.
Member of Parliament from #AIC Mr Lulama Ntshayisa says he is expecting the President to talk about State Owned Enterprises and how he intends turning them around #SONA2020 pic.twitter.com/5h1BWoSuuj
— Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA) February 13, 2020
“Last time, he promised something about changing Eskom, but we don’t see any changes now. We remember, it was said Eskom was going to be doing components so that there can be some improvement, but there is none,” he said.
Ramaphosa is expected to take to the podium at 19:00 to deliver his SONA speech. Parliament Speaker Thandi Modise made it clear that disruptions will not be tolerated at the joint sitting.
“Those who come to SONA 2020 with unwanted agendas will be dealt with in accordance with the rules,” Modise said.
