Ramaphosa’s big Sona plans to fix SA’s problems will require political will and a courage he lacks

While the majority of South Africans are busying themselves with real life, President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his annual State of the Nation Address (Sona) tomorrow evening (Thursday, 10 February 2026).

In 2019, Ramaphosa stood before Parliament quoting Ben Okri:

We could use the new era
To clean our eyes,
To see the world differently,
To see ourselves more clearly.

There has sadly been no “new era”, even as we see ourselves more clearly – a democracy struggling with deep inequality, wavering institutions and unacceptably high levels of corruption. After a decade of State Capture under former president Jacob Zuma we are still picking up the pieces and dealing with fresh corruption daily. Yet, despite the politicians, our country also remains one in which the hopeful rise every day and democracy is made and remade in communities across our seemingly intractable divides. How else would we survive in this bewildering place?

Ramaphosa comes to Parliament leading a Government of National Unity (GNU) which holds the state together with differing levels of effectiveness. There have been a few moments where the DA has threatened to walk out of the GNU. But there is a co-dependency between the DA and the ANC which neither will admit and which realpolitik demands.

Ramaphosa’s GNU and its oft-halting progress is also reflective of the fact that the ANC cannot conceive that it has lost its electoral majority. Ramaphosa, in his second and last term, is president of a waning party.

As Susan Booysen has written eloquently elsewhere, a sense of anomie lies at the heart of all the ANC has become; untethered and unmoored from principle, ethics and society. At its 114th birthday celebration in Moruleng, North West, a thin crowd gathered on 8 January to hear the party mull over its slogan, “the year of decisive action to fix local government and transform the economy”. Usually there is much talk of renewal but even such party speak is unconvincing. Despite being the largest coalition partner, in 2024 the electorate was clearly signalling that it had had enough of State Capture, corruption and the constant stream of scandal emanating from the ANC-led government.

But cynical as we might be about the annual Sona, it is a ritual of our democracy and a moment for the President to account to Parliament and, in so doing, to all of us. It is also a rare moment where the legislature, executive and judiciary are in the same room. That room, of course, is not our beautiful and historic parliamentary precinct, but rather the Cape Town City Hall. It is a stark reminder of all that we have been unable to fix after the tragic fire that gutted parts of the National Assembly in January 2022. There has yet to be proper accountability for that incident and the rebuilding has been a slow and painful process. Much more than bricks and mortar has been lost in the fire.

Given where we find ourselves at this Sona, it may well be appropriate for Ramaphosa to recommit to the basic building blocks of our democracy. Recommitment to these is imperative if we stand any chance of dealing with our many challenges, economic or social.

Who did we aspire to be when the final Constitution was signed into law in 1996? We have the words written in section 1:

“The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values: (a) Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. (b) Non-racialism and non-sexism. (c) Supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law. (d) Universal adult suffrage, a national common voters roll, regular elections and a multiparty system of democratic government, to ensure accountability, responsiveness and openness.”

That we have strayed from these building blocks is common cause, with evidence aplenty.

All around the world, the rule of law is under threat, so South Africa cannot afford to be complacent about ensuring that the rule of law and the institutions underpinning it are protected. Our context of deepening inequality, an increasing alienation, specifically among young people, from democracy itself as well as a decade of State Capture, make the task of defending the Constitution and the rule of law even more urgent.

The stakes are very high. A recent Afrobarometer survey reported “deep frustration” with South Africa’s democratic system. Most strikingly, 49% of respondents expressed support for military rule, a 21% increase since the previous survey in 2022.

What it does demonstrate quite clearly is that we must be concerned about how our democratic institutions are functioning and the legitimacy they hold in the eyes of citizens.

Recent research findings by the World Justice Project (WJP) suggest that these sentiments are consistent with a global pattern. The WJP finds an accelerating global decline in the rule of law, as authoritarianism rises and civil society space shrinks. In the 2024 election, voter turnout was 59%, down from 66% in 2019. About one-third of voters feel that no political party represents them. The turnout among young people, or lack thereof, is a particular concern.

Our society is fraying at the edges, with a criminal justice system in utter disarray. We have become inured to the undermining of the rule of law all too often, with violence.

Last year, Regional Court prosecutor Tracy Brown was shot dead outside her home in Gqeberha. This was not the first killing of a prosecutor in the Eastern Cape that year, with prosecutor Elona Sombulula having been murdered in Ngcobo in April. While the reasons for the killings are as yet unknown, there are strong suspicions that they are linked to the prosecutors’ work, specifically relating to cases involving corruption. Recent years have seen the killing of Bosasa liquidators Thomas and Cloete Murray, the attempted murder of advocate Coreth Naudé, the killing of Gauteng Health Department whistleblower Babitha Deokaran, the murder of police Anti-Gang Unit detective Charl Kinnear and the murder of City of Johannesburg forensic investigator Zenzele Sithole. And this is not a comprehensive list.

In most of these cases there has been little or no discernible progress towards even identifying those responsible, let alone bringing them to justice.

Most recently, explosive allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi about organised crime infiltrating the highest levels of government have led to the suspension of the minister of police and the establishment of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.

The impunity with which these acts are committed raises deeply concerning questions about the state of our society, and our ability to uphold the very fabric of our constitutional democracy.

The impunity must be named and tackled, with the President leading an all-of-government and all-of-society effort to deal with the undermining of the rule of law. That will include concerted efforts to bring about the full independence of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). For as the Anti-Corruption Coalition has argued: “As long as the executive maintains control over the NPA’s leadership, budget and overall administration, public accountability remains hostage to political will… without genuine independence of the NPA therefore, the promise of justice ‘without fear, or favour or prejudice’, will remain unfinished business.”

If those engaged in corruption do not fear consequences, how does one strengthen the rule of law and ensure that public monies are spent in an accountable manner? These are important institutional considerations which require political resolve. This goes to the heart of Ramaphosa’s leadership of his Cabinet and party because the tone is set at the top. Tough decisions are necessary.

Thembi Simelane, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Paul Mashatile all retain their positions in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet and all face allegations of corruption. Ramaphosa, a lover of inquiries and commissions, has more often than not used them to buy time or defuse political tensions. It obviates immediate decision-making yet under cover of process, be it on security matters or lately the SANDF and the Iranian warship fiasco. On the latter, Angie Motshekga as minister of defence and military veterans, seems quite comfortable in her position too, despite it all.

Local government, largely suffering from the same impunity and lack of accountability, is in crisis. It will be on everyone’s minds given that this is a local government election year. Bad governance and corruption affect ordinary people. In this achingly beautiful country, our towns and cities are mostly falling apart. Johannesburg, once boasting the strapline, “a world-class African city”, now lies in ruin, water supplies cut off, infrastructure crumbling, and hijacked buildings the order of the day. In a small town like Knysna one sees first-hand the effects of poor governance. That little jewel of the Garden Route is now being saved by local business and private citizens, its main road littered with cheap and cheerful shops and its Gray Street filthy, smelling of urine and potholed. No one won a majority in the last election and the town is now being run (into the ground?) by an ANC-led coalition that has very little interest in governance. Its interest is power for its own sake, with a touch of tenderpreneuring for good measure usually.

The Auditor-General has repeatedly warned against financial mismanagement in municipalities.

It is also worthwhile revisiting the 2009 “State of Local Government” report (yes, that long ago…) It was frank about the patronage networks many local municipalities have become. It stated unambiguously that party (read: the ANC) factionalism has led, in many parts, to the “progressive deterioration of municipality functionality”.

Furthermore the report identified weak oversight, overly complex legislation which municipalities are unable to get to grips with, corruption, skills deficits and tensions between the political and administrative interface as bedevilling local government’s efficacy.

The findings should have shaken everyone out of their complacency, specifically the section that deals with access to water. Very few, even now, seem serious about the technical challenges faced by our cities and towns – water, infrastructure, sewage, refuse removal – the “dull stuff”, in other words. Dull but important.

Tackling this complex set of challenges will require a combination of leadership, training and tough decisions to ensure that the rule of law prevails in municipalities that are often run as personal fiefdoms. Progress on the new White Paper on Local Government reform has been slow. Dealing with water, the South African National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency was established in 2024 but has yet to have the desired impact.

In 2025, Ramaphosa promised us a capable and professional public service (not for the first time) and the Public Service Amendment Bill, which is an attempt to cut the noose of cadre deployment and seeks to leave important appointments to directors-general and heads of department and not politicians. It could well be a game-changer for socioeconomic rights delivery.

We thus have to recommit ourselves to good governance and accountability and then to truly fixing the economy. South Africa’s unemployment rate sits at 31.9%, with youth unemployment at 58.5%. The Presidential Employment Stimulus Plan has provided 1.9 million young people with job opportunities that are temporary. Last year, Ramaphosa promised a Modern Industrial Policy aimed at green manufacturing, digital services and agriculture and mining. Unemployment cannot be reduced without fixing our education system, which is in large part unfit for purpose. The lack of accountability at its heart, even more than resource constraints, is education’s major challenge.

There has been progress as regards infrastructure and the R940-billion spend promised over three years, through public-private partnerships, building new dams and the involvement of the private sector in Operation Vulindlela. Some of it has been a slow grind again on water and Eskom’s unbundling. When Ramaphosa appointed a minister of electricity it was met with scepticism but, arguably, the genial Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has been a standout appointment. Our energy challenges have not disappeared but Ramokgopa has our confidence, load shedding is not part of our daily lives and renewables are part of our energy mix.

Recently, Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau formally announced government plans for a Transformation Fund of R20-billion into which business would contribute its enterprise and supplier development B-BBEE contributions. It is a harebrained scheme. Who would trust this government (and a chosen private sector partner) with actually using this fund to grow the economy and provide opportunities for black business? It smacks of a trough for more snouts and is no silver bullet.

So, Ramaphosa may come to Parliament on Thursday with plans for the economy, infrastructure and local government, education and the usual panoply, he may talk of fixing things (again), but the challenge is more than a technical one. It is also a political one.

Unless Ramaphosa deals with the deadwood and populists in his bloated Cabinet, unless he faces his party and ensures that the corrupt are dealt with and are nowhere near public office, and unless he is bold enough to make the argument against his party’s ideological flights of fancy, be it the National Health Insurance or the Transformation Fund, little will change. Our progress will continue to be hesitant. But to do so will require political will and a sort of courage which Ramaphosa has thus far lacked. DM

Judith February is executive officer: Freedom Under Law and editor of Daily Maverick’s legal newsletter, Judith’s Prudence.