DA leader John Steenhuisen.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation address (Sona) last week reflected a country that has begun to turn the corner after years of stagnation, highlighting tangible progress brought by the Democratic Alliance’s participation in the government of national unity (GNU), the party’s leader John Steenhuisen said on Tuesday.
During debate on the Sona, Steenhuisen — who is the minister of agriculture in the coalition government formed after Ramaphosa’s ANC lost its outright parliament majority in 2024 — said much of the progress made “bears the unmistakable imprint of the DA’s principled participation” which had injected “competence, fiscal discipline and pro-growth policies into a system that was long weighed down by mismanagement and cadre deployment”.
He said the water crisis in cities such as Johannesburg, bureaucratic barriers faced by business owners, infrastructure challenges, cadre deployment, failed empowerment frameworks, joblessness and crime were still a concern.
Steenhuisen welcomed Ramaphosa’s announcement of the army’s deployment to tackle illegal mining and gang violence but added: “We need sustained intelligence led policing, faster courts and communities empowered to partner with the law enforcement closer to the people.”
He welcomed the classification of foot and mouth disease as a national emergency, calling it a massive challenge that would require collaborative, transparent and sustained effort to resolve. The agriculture department was building a science-based facility to tackle the outbreak with a priority to secure large scale vaccines and achieve 80% vaccination of the national herd by December, Steenhuisen added.
Economic Freedom Fighters leader and MP Julius Malema accused Ramaphosa of “auctioning” the country by allowing private sector participation in the logistics sector as well as energy generation, adding: “And now you want to do the same with our water.”
The president had failed to take responsibility for the prevalence of crime and lack of job creation, infrastructure development as well as lacklustre economic growth, Malema added.
Ramaphosa’s deployment of the South African National Defence Force to crack down on illegal mining and gang violence was an admission of failure of the South African Police Service, Malema said.
“On the deployment of the army we have no choice but to support you because you have destroyed law enforcement capacity. Our concern is how do you deploy a military which has been crippled by austerity measures to fight crime?” Malema said.
He said the country’s budget surplus was an indication of austerity by the coalition government, rather than a positive economic indicator.
“Why would you be proud of a budget surplus in a country with massive unemployment, collapsing municipal infrastructure and poverty which is leading to the death of children in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
ANC member and Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni highlighted the successes of Operation Vulindlela in rebuilding rail and bridge infrastructure, hailing it as a successful initiative by the party.
“You’ve also directed us that we must act to strengthen criminal justice to fight organised crime. And to do that, Mr President, you’ve directed that the state security agency re-vet members of the senior management structures of the SAPS and vet members of the Metro police departments. We have commenced with work in this regard,” she said.
Ntshavheni said the budget surplus was proof of progress, telling fellow MPs: “The budget surplus … helps us pay down existing debt. It lowers our debt servicing costs.”
Inkatha Freedom Party leader Velenkosini Hlabisa, who is the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, always touted his party’s contribution towards the government of national unity’s successes.
“The successes outlined by the president during SONA stand as a testimony to the strength of the multiparty democracy in which diverse voices are truly represented,” Hlabisa said..
He called for the redesign of the social grant system towards self-help and self-reliance and for collective action to combat gender-based violence and youth unemployment.
Patriotic Alliance MP and minister of sports, arts and culture Gayton Mckenzie said his party members had sent him to thank Ramaphosa for listening to coalition partners in crafting his speech.
““You are our president that is consultative and you’re listening, that’s why today we have 10 000 Labour inspectors that are going to go around the country…thank you for listening to our cries when we said, please bring the army,” McKenzie said.
Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder criticised the ANC’s neglect of infrastructure maintenance, maladministration and cadre deployment — during its three decades as the sole party in power — as the cause of the water crisis.
“It was difficult Thursday evening to listen to the long list of problems that you mentioned where you spoke about all those new task teams,” he said. “Not all of these problems happened coincidentally, no, it actually happened under the rule of the ANC government over the last 30 years.”