When President Jacob Zuma takes to the podium to deliver his eighth State of the Nation Address tonight, it will be the word “power” that millions of South Africa would like to hear.
That would not be his political power, but the energy South Africa needs to keep the lights on and the country functioning.
Zuma is expected to use the annual speech, scheduled to start at 7pm, to take the nation into his government’s confidence over what will be done to address the energy crisis that has got the country restless.
His administration is faced with a ticking energy time bomb and what the president announces tonight may directly affect when the country will see an end to load-shedding or whether blackouts are the future.
Boosting the economy
Power utility Eskom is under pressure to boost capacity and rejuvenate an ageing power grid with electricity shortages and management issues.
Zuma is expected to emphasise increasing energy generation, possibly through enlisting the services of independent power producers and other sources of alternative energy, and make a firm announcement on nuclear energy.
Though there have been signs for several years that South Africa would, one day, face a power crisis, it is under Zuma that the situation worsened.
The energy crisis cannot be dealt with in isolation of the disastrous effects it is having on the economy. Again, the country will look earnestly to Zuma to unveil a working plan to boost economic growth – at a time when the International Monetary Fund downgraded its growth forecast for the country this year to 2.1%.
Since 2013, Zuma has used the National Development Plan as the overarching navigator for the country: a policy framework that has been welcomed by the majority of opposition parties and the business fraternity.
But in a period when lights are off for hours at a time and economic growth is on the decline, despite the slump in oil prices, the president will need to announce solutions that will put the country and investors at ease.
No overtime work
Job creation, poverty alleviation, housing and improving service delivery are some other key issues South Africans are interested in.
Statistics South Africa revealed that the country’s unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2014 dropped 1.1 percentage points to 24.3%, but 4.9-million people of working age are still officially unemployed.
Despite fears that the Economic Freedom Fighters MPs might disrupt Zuma’s speech and a threatened overtime strike by members of the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu), who provide transport, catering and other services, Parliament’s presiding officers put on brave faces this week and promised that the event would proceed smoothly.
A statement issued by Parliament this morning said Nehawu informed it on Wednesday that some of its members would not work overtime as expected. “The affected areas are catering, transport and ushering, but Parliament will ensure these areas are serviced,” the statement said.
Will the EFF keep its word?
EFF leaders have not been explicit in recent days about the party’s plans to get Zuma to respond to questions before he delivers his address, but expectations are high that the party led by Zuma’s former ally will keep its word.
If the EFF goes ahead with disrupting Parliament this action is likely to irk many people, including some of its supporters. Should the party not act, members would be seen as cowards who were defeated before the battle.
This morning the EFF started creating hype around Zuma’s address on its Twitter account, fuelling expectations that its MPs would go ahead with planned questions to the president.
“@PresidencyZA We are looking forward to #SONA2015 this evening #PayBackTheMoney,” read one tweet.
“Baleka has two choices: Respecting rules of Parliament and acting with impartiality or being a Nkandla security guard and defending a thief,” said the tweet that followed.
Then: “Rules of Parliament demand that Zuma not read but must speak and only refer to notes. He must not read to us. We’re not in Sunday school.”
Among dignitaries to attend today’s address are: the first speaker of South Africa’s democratic Parliament’s National Assembly, Frene Ginwala, FW de Klerk, the last president of an apartheid government, former president Thabo Mbeki, the first vice-president of the Pan-African Parliament, Roger Nkondo Dang, and Anne Makinda, speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania and chairperson of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum.
Heads of diplomatic missions will also be present.