By Thys van Zyl
Will President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening give a true reflection of the state of affairs in the country or will it simply be, as before, a repetition of the ANC's so-called successes over the past 30 years with a view to the upcoming election?
Unfortunately, we expect it will just be more of the same. This year's election could possibly be a watershed moment and the ANC is expected to try to convince that they are the best solution for the country by referring, as usual, to all these so-called successes.
However, when the true state of the nation is looked at, it paints a dark picture of a government that has failed miserably. Ramaphosa said last year that his State of the National Address is about seeing hope where there is despair and pointing out solutions to the crises.
However, this is only lip service because most of these crises he referred to continue unabated and in some cases have rather worsened.
Loadshedding and its destructive impact on the country and its economy was one of the most prominent issues during last year's State of the Union Address.
Ramaphosa rightly pointed out that the economy cannot grow and unemployment cannot be reduced without reliable electricity supply and that the government's most immediate task is to dramatically reduce the severity of load shedding in the coming months and eventually end load shedding altogether.
However, loadshedding continues unabated and crushes any hope of economic growth and progress.
Poverty and the rising cost of living were also high on Ramaphosa's agenda. Since then, however, the cost of living has skyrocketed even further due to high interest rates and rising prices, while South Africans are getting poorer with their incomes falling, in real terms.
Crime and corruption also continues to run rampant amid promises to curb them. Thousands of people are murdered in South Africa every year and it was announced at the end of last year that the murder rate for the past financial year was the highest in two decades.
This is despite Ramaphosa's promises that the South African Police Service is being strengthened and more money is being made available for this purpose. Meanwhile, the South African government is trying to save the world while seemingly not paying the necessary attention to the carnage on its own soil.
South Africa has also ended up on a grey list because not enough is being done to prevent corruption and money laundering. The government also continues to harm the country with its policies and its anti-Western sentiment.
On the economic front, the economy is not growing as desired, amid numerous restrictions including load shedding and the logistics crisis. Government debt is skyrocketing while more and more people in South Africa depend on the government and a shrinking tax payer base has to bear an ever greater burden.
Ramaphosa is expected to use the planned National Health Insurance as his trump card and promises will be made about the state wanting to ensure free, high-quality healthcare for all citizens.
However, there are numerous examples of the large-scale failure of projects undertaken by the government due to mismanagement. Where the government fails, the private sector intervenes with alternative solutions.
There is more and more emphasis on the private sector's involvement in the economy and this holds a promising prospect. But now the government wants to come and take over something that was built by the private sector because they failed to do it themselves.
*Thys van Zyl is the CEO of Everest Wealth.
**The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL