As an individual keen on events shaping South Africa’s economic and policy landscape, the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) – an annual spectacle marking the opening of Parliament’s new calendar year – used to be an occasion I observed with genuine interest over the past couple of decades.
Fast forward to the present, and things have changed. Come 8 February this year, I’ve decided to make more productive use of the hour (or longer, if the EFF decides to grace us with their usual circus antics) that President Cyril Ramaphosa is slated to use for what many anticipate to be a session filled with empty back-patting and electioneering prattle.
This year’s Sona appears poised for the repeated government self-adulation, with minimal acknowledgement of the nation’s grim reality.
I can almost hear the chorus of sceptics asking: “What took you so long?” The growing trend of tuning out of the presidential Sona charade has been palpable for years, and I’ve finally succumbed to the decision to abstain from this year’s event and future Sonas, until a more credible and sensible figure takes the stage.
Sona has morphed into Parliament’s annual Oscars gala, with politicians and guests bedecked in their finest, as if celebrating a year of effective legislating and government efficiency. Regrettably, reality paints a starkly different picture.
Frankly, I’ve grown weary of the myriad proposals and promises from past Sonas that have never materialised.
Aired during prime television time, Sona should serve as an opportunity for the President to furnish the nation with factual and substantive information on our collective progress over the past year. The public craves a comprehensive account of the good, the bad and the ugly, coupled with concrete plans from those in power to rectify our shortcomings and address challenges while capitalising on successes.
Frankly, I’ve grown weary of the myriad proposals and promises from past Sonas that have never materialised. The millions of jobs that were supposed to materialise and the smart city dreams that remain elusive – while other nations, globally and within Africa, have turned such visions into reality. Sadly, our President seems to equate success with increasing unemployment and expanding the ranks of social grant beneficiaries, rather than fostering salaried employment.
Rest assured, Ramaphosa’s 2024 Sona is likely to echo the same hollow rhetoric, selectively highlighting a few positive events over the past year – perhaps our Rugby World Cup triumph (certainly not acknowledging Dricus du Plessis, South Africa’s UFC world champion). There will undoubtedly be self-congratulation regarding the ANC’s role in bringing democracy to the nation. However, don’t expect any remorse or apology for the lack of leadership from him and his underperforming Cabinet, which has left our state-owned entities, mining industry, transport and logistics, electricity supply, education, health, safety and security in shambles. The list goes on.
Read more in Daily Maverick: The other side of Sona – Suffering Nation, Seething Nation
After years of seeking meaning or positive direction from each Sona and being perennially disappointed, this year I’ve decided to spare myself the frustration. I firmly believe that South Africans can send a powerful message of discontent to their government by collectively tuning out and turning off their television sets at 7pm on Thursday, 8 February 2024. Imagine the impact if media outlets joined this cause, collectively deciding not to broadcast the event or feature it in digital and print media. While the SABC may be hesitant to not participate, perhaps their technicians could conjure a technical signal glitch. Invited dignitaries should consider a no-show.
Citizens may want to change their social media status to “Not Watching Sona”.
This is my vision for Sona 2024: a collective, active citizenry across all sectors of society, making it the most significant non-event in South Africa’s democratic history. Because that’s precisely what it has become, and now it’s time to show the President: “Not Watching Sona.” Let’s make it happen. DM
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Hear bloody hear. It’s been a good few years since I have been able to watch a South African president speak publicly on anything much less the state of our fatally wounded nation. Zuma was a crass crime boss shamelessly rubbing our noses in his open disdain while Ramaphosa is a sleazy confidence trickster who peddles a portfolio of fairy tales and tells lies that roll of his tongue like lullabyes.
I haven’t watched that hogwash in years. The site of all those fattened politicians, entering on a red carpet in designer gowns while the rest of South Africa burns just sickens me to my stomach.
After patting themselves on the back for another year of mediocrity and theft, they proceed to a swanky gala dinner, all paid for by the taxpayers they bleed to death to subsidise their abject failures.
I say we need a lot more than merely tuning out from the SONA, we need to fill the streets around Parliament with thousands of protesters. Block all the roads, ensure they can’t have the SONA at all. There is nothing for them to say there that we don’t already know.
Exactly what took you so long…watch the DA tell us the truth a day or two later.
Nooo!! You’ll miss out on all the ANC land whales, parading in outfits straining at every thread, Mr Duvenhage!
It will simply be more blah, blah bullshit with empty promises and self congratulation.
I haven’t watch since the EFF turned it into a circus. All South Africans know the State of the Nation- it’s broken. The president telling us anything else would be a lie.
I for one will not be watching which I have haven’t for the last 5 SONA’s, I just cannot stomach watching Ramaphosa with his pretend sorrow look on his face telling lies to the people and expecting them to believe him.
At this stage it’s a toss-up between simply ignoring what can only be described as *grotesque* pomp and pageantry by the sybaritic simpletons in charge – or – renting a projector and broadcasting the event on the side of a police station to show people where the money for their children’s future went. “You see that car? You could have built X many houses instead. You see that handbag? Those shoes? Could have fed a family or put a child through school. What is louder, your grumbling stomach or David Mabuza’s tie?”
… And don’t give us that BS that they are all knockoffs and imitations – counterfeit goods are illegal in South Africa!
Great idea!
The nation’s in a state, that’s for sure. The self-satisfied grins on the mugs of Mutton dressed as Lamb is a timely reminder of how out of touch these appalling parasites are to the dreadful poverty experienced every day by the Sheep who blindly vote for them time after time. None more self-satisfied is Chief Couchstuffer himself, Ramaposeur, who just recently patted himself on the back, boasting of the remarkable achievement of having nearly 30 million of loyal supporters rely on a handout of R350 a month. What a joke. Please vote every last one of these deplorable cadres out.
I haven’t watched SONA for the past four years. I hope many more South Africans will join the boycott.