Cape Town - Presidency political heads and officials amplified their charm offensive in the city on Wednesday to drum up support ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) tonight.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele’s spokesperson, Nonceba Mhlauli, who doubles as an ANC leader, addressed a Unisa pre-Sona panel at the Parow campus, while Deputy Minister in the Presidency Thembi Siweya visited the Kraaifontein community.
Gungubele was expected to appear at the Government Communication and Information System’s pre-Sona media networking session in the city centre last night.
He was also billed to interact with the community at 5.30am today at the Cape Town train station to raise awareness of the Sona, which takes place at 7pm this evening.
The pre-Sona panel comprised Mhlauli, DA MP Cilliers Brink, EFF MP Piaba Madokwe and RSA Bar Association’s advocate Yasmin Mohamed.
Foremost in the dialogue was the energy crisis, while other topics included the Constitution, expectations from the Sona, unemployment, alleged capture of the judiciary, the demise of State-owned entities and gender-based violence, among others.
Mhlauli debunked or batted away several perceptions and allegations about Ramaphosa’s government and highlighted its successes, which she said included the delivery of tablets at some schools, a promise Ramaphosa had previously made.
Mhlauli, a member of the ANC’s National Executive Committee and the ANCYL convener, said she expected Ramaphosa’s Sona to address the question of what she described as the “pandemic” of youth unemployment.
“More than anything, what we want to hear from the president is what we’re going to do about it. It is our view that the programmes we’ve spoken about so far actually aren’t addressing the crisis,” Mhlauli said.
She made an example of the teaching assistants’ programme, which targets young people, saying it was a stop-gap measure needing a long-term plan to ensure the assistants become teachers.
Mhlauli said there also needed to be a focus on technical vocational education and training institutions to spark a skills transfer “revolution” to address unemployment.
An audience member had asked whether the Constitution was failing the poor. Brink said: “The Constitution isn’t the fundamental problem, but the problem is that the state’s developmental capacity has been eroded over time.”
Madokwe criticised SA’s policy direction on energy, saying it slanted heavily towards renewable energy, which she understood to be “more expensive” than coal. She said no research had been carried out on the negative impact renewable energy would have on the environment.
Madokwe said Ramaphosa’s Sona would be “a compilation of empty words and unrealistic targets”.
Siweya, meanwhile, attended an event at Masibambisane High School in Kraaifontein, which was held in partnership with two corporations. Communities complained to her about overcrowding at the school.
She said the involvement of two corporations at the event spoke to Ramaphosa’s call for social partnerships and private-public partnerships.
soyiso.maliti@inl.co.za