In one of those odd moments in Tuesday’s parliamentary debate on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) – the House collapsed before the comfort break over wife-beating allegations across the floor between the ANC and EFF – both DA interim leader John Steenhuisen and EFF leader Julius Malema shared a point of critique of the Ramaphosa presidency as a letdown.

There the similarities stopped, and different ideologies and politics took over.

Malema cautioned Ramaphosa that his reliance on “the white-owned and dominated private sector” was misplaced, and reminded him how the EFF had already in June 2019 told him they were watching.

“The white people do not have our interests at heart,” said Malema in typical EFF race identity politics.

“Nothing is more hopeless than asking white people to transform themselves.”

He called for a decisive intervention in the economy: “We need to own the mines. We need to own the land. We need to own the banks.”

But with a “You blew it”, it was Steenhuisen who delivered a blistering critique of the past two years of Ramaphosa’s presidency.

“Honourable President, I was one of those who had hope. I saw in you a man who could just maybe lead us out of the turbulent times and point us in the direction of prosperity.

“You had a nation behind you, willing you to succeed. You had more support and trust than any leader here since Nelson Mandela.

“Your position within your own party was as strong as it could ever be. They needed you to prevent a disaster in the 2019 elections. You were untouchable.

“You held all the cards, Honourable President. And then you went and blew it. You let us down.”

Ramaphosa’s anti-corruption talk, alongside statements that State Capture had been dealt with decisively, was diffused by pointing out that former eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, who’s up on fraud charges, had attended last Thursday’s SONA. And by pointing out that “the beneficiaries of State Capture – some of them chairs of portfolio committees – sat in these very benches”.

More unemployed, stubbornly low economic growth, the return of rolling power outages, all happened on Ramaphosa’s watch.

“It didn’t just happen on your watch, it happened by your own hand. You, Sir, put us in this situation. You had your chance to fix it, and you blew it,” said Steenhuisen.

“You are not the reformer South Africa thought you were. You don’t have the guts to make the tough choices our country needs.”

Time and time again, said Steenhuisen, Ramaphosa had put the ANC above his country.

While the DA welcomed some of the energy announcements of SONA 2020 – including allowing municipalities to procure their own power – land expropriation without compensation and the National Health Insurance (NHI) were no-nos.

The health system must be fixed within the current budget – “Where is the money going to come from? Your own bank account?” – and by focusing on infrastructure and ensuring all nursing and doctors’ posts are filled.

Waving a copy of the DA counter-proposal from the speaker’s podium, Steenhuisen said, “There is much on which we can collaborate.”

Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu stepped off his prepared speech to try take the sting out of the DA interim leader’s biting attack, by addressing Ramaphosa. 

“You are not a DA member. You are a leader of the ANC. Your State of the Nation Address was guided by the ANC.”

But that’s just it: Ramaphosa has on several occasions, from the podium of the House called on Parliament to be the platform for national debate and joint solution-finding.

That goes back as far as 15 February 2018, when shortly after being elected president in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa said:

“One of the things I will be seeking to do is to have an opportunity… to work with all political parties and we’ll start it off with a meeting with all political parties so we can find a way of working together.”

That this has not happened, never mind EFF jackboot stormtrooper tactics, is also linked to the ANC’s own internal dynamics. From the second half of 2018, much focus was on the May 2019 elections – and in campaigning mode there is no accommodation across party lines – while much of 2019 passed uncomfortably for the ANC after its declining election performance.

ANC speakers on Day 1 of the SONA parliamentary debate stuck to what seemed to be allocated sections of the presidential address.

And so Mthembu referenced the 25-Year Review government launched late in 2019 to underscore that South Africa is a better place now than before 1994. And how promises are being surpassed.

“We have in the first two years of our investment drive, raised a total of R664-billion in investment commitments, which is more than half of our five-year target of R1.2-trillion,” said Mthembu.

Agriculture, Land Affairs and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza talked land, while ANC MP Dibonelo Mahlatsi, who serves on the ad hoc committee changing the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation, talked about such expropriation.

Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy pulled of a matter-of-fact account of how her portfolio would give effect to the president’s speech.

The opposition benches were spitting fire, however, about how Ramaphosa had failed to seize the moment.

“We find ourselves now in desperate times, with an economy all but collapsing. Corruption has brought us here. It is not that South Africa is without hope, potential or assets,” said IFP honorary president and parliamentary caucus leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, adding the party appreciated SONA 2020’s frankness. 

“But we cannot avoid the obvious question: Why did this government not tell us the truth before, as the president has now done? Why did it avoid the truth for years and years, until South Africa was reduced to such dire circumstances that untruths were no longer possible?”

Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald, in his critique of black economic empowerment, argued that while a fluorescent light tube cost R65 in the hardware shop, Eskom paid R900.

“President Ramaphosa is busy tainting his legacy. If he continues like this, he will be remembered as one who destroyed the country because he acted in the ANC’s best interests and not in the best interests of the people of South Africa.”

Disruptions notwithstanding, the DA, with the party’s Chief Whip Natasha Mazzone and MP Geordin Hill-Lewis, stayed on message – Ramaphosa has chosen the ANC over the country, to South Africa’s detriment.

Tackling Ramaphosa’s SONA 2020 emphasis on social compacting, Hill-Lewis put out the challenge:

“If you want to build a consensus that really matters – one that can fix what is wrong with our country – you need to look beyond your own party.

“There are enough people in this House who are committed to the reforms we need. They’re just not all on your benches. If you reach out, you can build this majority.” DM