You are a president of nothing -Vuyo Zungula slams Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) has came under intense fire on Thursday, with opposition MPs accusing him of failing to deliver on high-profile promises while South Africans continue to face persistent challenges.

The SONA is a constitutionally mandated speech delivered by the President to Parliament each year. Its roots lie in parliamentary traditions worldwide, such as the UK’s Queen’s Speech and the US State of the Union Address, which aim to outline government priorities and report to the legislature. In South Africa, the SONA was formalized under the 1996 Constitution, which created a democratic system after the end of apartheid. Section 84 of the Constitution requires the President to report annually on the state of the nation and outline the government’s policy priorities.

MPs have however slammed this years SONA and president Ramaphosa. “He is a president of nothing,”  ATM leader Vuyo Zungula said. Zungula has accused Ramaphosa of avoiding accountability while leaving a trail of unfulfilled pledges.

“Your nephew Hangwani Maumela is still at large, your NDPP stormed out of a commission to avoid accountability, your promised us bullet trains, where’s the smart city he promised in Ekurhuleni? explain why all of your promises fail? today there’s no city, there’s no economy, just promises,” Zungula said.

MK Party MP Sibonelo Nomvalo said: “Amanga! Lies! We’re here to listen to lies!” 

SONA addresses have repeatedly failed to translate into tangible improvements in South Africans’ daily lives.

Independent fact-checks support these criticisms, highlighting a series of stalled or broken promises across multiple sectors.

Plans to finalise partnerships at the Durban and Ngqura container terminals, part of a broader effort to modernise port infrastructure, remain incomplete, with no partner announced for Ngqura and ongoing delays at Durban. Similarly, key road projects, including the Msikaba and Mtentu bridges in the Eastern Cape, have not been finished within the promised timeframes, even though construction had begun.

Ramaphosa’s digital migration goal, a full shift of television broadcasting to digital signal, has also repeatedly missed deadlines. Meanwhile, the full unbundling of Eskom, initially promised for December 2022, remains partial, with generation and distribution units not fully separated despite the National Transmission Company becoming operational.

Other commitments, such as the social compact aimed at tackling unemployment and poverty,  intended to be concluded within 100 days, have not been finalised, despite multiple drafts and attempts. Long-standing megaprojects like the bullet train and a “smart city” in Lanseria/Ekurhuleni remain aspirational, with no tangible progress on the ground.

uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) MP Visvin Reddy also criticised the SONA as an expensive exercise yielding little tangible value. The estimated R7 million cost of the event, he argued, represents taxpayers’ money spent on what he described as a “talk show.”

“We all come here and spend an hour to hear a story, which could have been done via TV like during Covid-19, where the President addressed the nation,” Reddy said.

“Water is a basic need, and if people in South Africa do not have access to it, it means that this President has failed the country,” he added.