SONA 2026: Team South Africa batting for another six!

In his rallying cry at the conclusion of his State of the Nation Address (“SONA”) to make 2026 a transformative year, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on the nation to harness the spirit of all of the women who bravely marched on the Union Buildings in 1956, the unyielding youth of 1976 who rose up against the oppressive education system and all South Africans who collectively delivered the Constitution in 1996.

To set a positive tone, the president highlighted some of the areas where we as a nation have been winning over the past year. The economy has been growing albeit at a very modest pace, the rand has appreciated, borrowing costs have declined (through lower interest rates) and the JSE Securities Exchange has been making new all-time highs. South Africa was also removed from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force, several key institutions and enterprises were bolstered (such as SARS) and National Treasury managed to run a primary budget surplus for the second year in a row. Even with those wins, however, it was clear that a mammoth task still lay ahead.

In last year’s SONA, the president referenced the newly launched Medium Term Development Plan with its three strategic priorities of driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living and building a capable, ethical and developmental state. This year the president highlighted these again as the strategic priorities of the Government of National Unity. With all of these lofty ambitions, he stressed that it was the nation’s inherent qualities of tolerance, generosity, kindness, solidarity, respect, determination and resolve that would ultimately be the driver of our future success.

With the opening rhetoric done, the president got down to some of the harsh realities faced by so many of our people. And it wasn’t about poor Panyaza Lesufi having to go to a hotel room to take a bath when his suburb wasn’t getting any water. He noted the scourge of gang violence, the illicit firearms trade, poverty, unemployment, the rampant corruption within the South African Police Force and other government and municipal bodies, the flood of job-stealing counterfeit goods, the water shortage crisis and the Foot and Mouth Disease crisis.

With 2026 not a time to be resting on our laurels, the president detailed several actions and initiatives that would be introduced or ramped up this year. These included:

• Deploying the SANDF to support the police in combatting organised crime, gang violence and illegal mining. Recruiting a further 5,500 new police officers this year.
  
  
• Establishing a National Water Crisis Committee to give the water crisis the same level of attention that was required to remediate the electricity crisis.
  
  
• Passing a Whistle-Blower Protection Bill to help in the fight against corruption.
  
  
• Establishing a permanent, independent, overarching anti-corruption body.
  
  
• Finalising a White Paper on Local Government to reimagine how local government works (and to actually get it to work).
  
  
• Re-vetting of the senior management of the South African Police Service and metro police departments by the State Security Agency with ongoing lifestyle audits.
  
  
• Establishing a professional State Property Company to transform the 88,000 buildings and 5 million hectares of land owned by the state to facilitate the country’s growth and development.
  
  
• R1 trillion public investment over three years to build and maintain infrastructure.
  
  
• Establishing a dedicated task team under the National Energy Crisis Committee to light a fire under the electricity restructuring process.
  
  
• Initial work on introducing high-speed rail on key routes in South Africa.
• Declaring FMD a national disaster and vaccinating the national herd of 14 million cattle with 28 million vaccines over the next 12 months. 
  
  
• Expanding the public employment programmes, including the Community Works Programme, the Expanded Public Works Programme and the Presidential Employment Stimulus.
  
  
• Building on existing support programmes such as the Child Support Grant, and the Social Relief of Distress Grant.
  
  
• Launching a Digital ID to enable safe and secure use of digital services for all South Africans.
  
  
• Expanding the Electronic Travel Authorisation system to further boost tourism and growth.
  
  
• Other initiatives to boost mining and exploration, investment in manufacturing, infrastructure and skills development.

The president didn’t shy away from the key issues and he put plans on the table to address many of those issues. We are, however, reminded of Robert Burns’ words in 1785 that “even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. We have never been short of plans or ideas; it’s always been in the execution that we have fallen short. Plans have to be executed by people and oft times they fall victim to the lure of unearned coin and at other times, they simply don’t have the skills to get the job done. But, as the president says, we are turning towards hope and towards the reality of a better future for us all. We have made progress in many areas and that’s what gives us the hope and encouragement to stick at it.