SONA 2021: President must provide clarity on various matters, such as the local government elections and Zuma’s contempt of the Constitutional Court
10 February 2021
It is high time for President Cyril Ramaphosa to tell the people of South Africa whether the local government elections will take place later this year or whether the ANC government plans to amend the Constitution so as to postpone the elections.
This is one of the most important matters that the FF Plus expects the President to provide clarity on for the people of South Africa.
When it comes to economic growth, the FF Plus does not want to hear of yet another conference with businesspeople that focuses on job creation and then no decisive action is taken to do something about it.
Everyone knows that the economy must be stimulated and that more jobs must be created, but the public wants to know what the President is going to do, when he is going to do it and how he is going to do it. He must divulge the details of the government’s job creation plans.
In this regard, the President must also make it clear that the private sector is not the enemy, but that economic growth and job creation are entirely dependent on the private sector. Therefore, the FF Plus hopes to hear plans announced to create a more favourable environment for the private sector including, among other things, the easing of draconian legislation that hampers development and tax incentives.
Concerning the Covid-19 pandemic and the vaccine debacle, President Ramaphosa must announce that the private sector will be allowed to import and distribute vaccines. It is already abundantly clear that the government's centralised model for handling the vaccines has failed.
The President must also indicate what the government is going to do about the vaccines that have already been procured but have been shown to be ineffective against the local variant of the virus as well as how the financial losses that were suffered will be recouped.
It is also imperative that he, as political head of the country, provides clarity on what will be done to eradicate corruption, starting with Members of Parliament and especially those in his own party. He needs to realise that the interests of South Africa are much more important than the problems and interests of the ANC.
I expect the President to make political statements about his party members in government who were implicated in corruption before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture.
President Ramaphosa is silent about the fact that former President Jacob Zuma said that he will not obey the Constitutional Court's ruling regarding his appearance before the Zondo Commission. It is blatantly undermining the Constitution as well as the work and integrity of the Commission.
The eyes of the business world are particularly focused on this because the President's statements and actions in this regard will be an indication of whether or not South Africa will degenerate into just one more corrupt Africa state that, like a banana republic, has no regard for constitutional principles.
Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 10 February 2021
