WATCH | ‘Mr President, sir, you lead a failed state’ – MK Party’s Ndhlela

Ramaphosa

Cape Town – Opposition parties have strongly criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), calling it empty and repetitive.

Ramaphosa’s speech remained the focus of debate at the Nieuwmeester Dome in Cape Town on Wednesday as discussions entered their second and final day.

MK party MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela dismissed it as the “state of nothingness address”, accusing Ramaphosa of making recycled promises while failing to deliver results.

“ [It was] an address that regrettably felt less like a reflection of our nation’s state, and more like a maiden speech of someone who’s just been newly appointed to a job, laden with recycled promises, hollow rhetoric, and dressed in the usual fanfare that has become the hallmark of these kind of annual events,” he said.

Ndhlela also condemned the government for prioritising economic interests over the safety of South African soldiers in the DRC.

“These young men and women did not die to defend our sovereignty but to protect the government’s economic interests in foreign lands.

“The least you could have done was to equip them better, yet you let your incompetent, less caring finance minister keep defunding the military budget. Their blood is in the hands of the government that prioritises profits over people.”

He ended by saying: “Mr President, sir, you lead a failed state.”

The ANC defended Ramaphosa’s leadership, with MP Cameron Dugmore praising the Expropriation Act and dismissing opposition complaints as jealousy toward the government of national unity.

Meanwhile, the EFF’s Omphile Maotwe rejected Ramaphosa’s speech outright, accusing him of failing to address poverty and unemployment.

“Year in, year out, Mr Ramaphosa comes here and makes promises without accounting for the promises he made the previous year.

“It is as if he is permanently on a reset button, and the sad thing is that every time he opens his mouth, more people become statistics of unemployment, poverty, rape, and murder.

“Mr. Ramaphosa, why don’t you rather keep quiet and go look after your Ankole at Phala Phala farm because you are the elephant in the room?”

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi defended the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act.

“NHI, it’s a healthcare financing system that covers everybody regardless of their socio-economic status. That is what it means. And it has two dimensions. The first one is that all people receive quality healthcare by all means no matter how poor you are”

“The second one is that when you receive that quality healthcare you must not [be left in] financial hardships. Or what the WHO calls catastrophic healthcare expenditure,” said Motsoaledi.

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