For the first time in several years, electricity did not dominate the president’s address
The crisis has exposed governance and infrastructure gaps as residents face ‘Day Zero’ conditions in multiple high-demand areas
The Madlanga commission and parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating corruption in policing have opened a crucial public conversation, analysts say
Even before his speech on Thursday, many opposition parties had already given the president a ‘fail’
A year after the president’s first State of the Nation address as the leader of a coalition government, performance has been good and bad
For weary citizens, the president’s address has become a ritual of promises rather than a moment of reckoning. If it is to regain its dignity, it must strip away the gloss and return to its core purpose
The Lanseria smart city remains a dream and hunger, unemployment and crime continue to be high but there has been progress in Eskom’s turnaround
As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepared to present his State of the Nation address (Sona) on Thursday, his second in the government of national unity (GNU), residents of some suburbs across Joburg were protesting about the lack of water. The crisis has left no one untouched. Businesses, forced to shut their doors as the crisis deepens, […]
Perhaps the most tangible area of progress since SONA 2025 has been energy stabilisation. The marked reduction in the frequency and severity of load-shedding, including extended periods without outages, reflects the cumulative impact of the Energy Action Plan and improved maintenance discipline at Eskom
The president said senior officials in municipalities would be appointed through an independent process free from political interference
South Africa’s creative sector went into the State of the Nation address with a clear demand: recognition, reform and rescue. What it received was silence. Just days before President Cyril Ramaphosa took to the podium, hundreds of film and television workers marched under the banner “Save SA Film Jobs”, warning that the industry was in […]
The focus is on manufacturing green products for global markets and modernising the country’s power system, the president says
The president said the South African National Defence Force would be deployed to support police in tackling gang violence and illegal mining
The president said the army would be deployed to tackle illegal mining and gang violence and pledged urgent action against organised crime
Party leader Julius Malema said the move signalled the president’s loss of confidence in the police
In a pointed message to powerful nations, the president declared that South Africa’s sovereignty was “sacrosanct” and would not be compromised
The president announced a mass vaccination drive of the country’s entire cattle herd as the government moves to limit economic damage, export bans and further losses to farmers
The government is moving to establish a national water crisis committee, intervene in failing municipalities and hold municipal managers criminally accountable for persistent water outages
This was Ramaphosa’s ninth address since being elected in 2019
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address live from Cape Town City Hall.
Sona thus serves as both a mirror and a map: it reflects where the government has been whilst charting its intended course