The African National Congress (ANC) says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) has reflected the government’s failures while also planning to address the challenges facing the country.
Ramaphosa on Thursday announced a national state of emergency to be implemented immediately to address the energy crisis and ease the country’s burden.
The Minister of Cooperatives and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has since announced the declaration of a state of calamity.
Ramaphosa’s speech was not a slogan
During a media briefing on Friday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the ANC considered Ramaphosa’s speech a “true state of the nation”.
“It’s not a philosophy. It’s not a slogan. It’s a program of what needs to be done. It’s also partly a reflection of some of the things that the president said he would do in the administration last year and explained substantially in his statement about what he’s done,” he said. .
“Our government has received criticism that the president makes announcements every year and there is no reflection on what has been done.
Also read: Ramaphosa failed SA by not upholding human rights
“[But] If you look at the statement, there are many things that have been announced and concrete reports back to the country about what has been done and the difficulties that the government is facing in this crisis.
The ANC, Mbalula said, has welcomed Ramaphosa’s announcement to establish the Ministry of Electricity in the Presidency as well as the declaration of a state of national disaster.
“We believe this is a bold step,” he said.
“We announced at the end of our lekgotla that we are approaching what is happening in our country, [we need] to overcome the crisis. This is a crisis and we are not in denial about it.
Minister of electricity
The minister rejected suggestions from the Democratic Alliance (DA) that claimed the Minister of Electricity would pay R37.2 million in tax annually.
“I have noticed that there is a lot of political excitement about the electricity minister, Mr. Project Manager, who will deal with the electricity intervention.
“[It started some] discourse and others were joking about it… that the electricity minister is already at work. Of course, the DA will go overboard and distorting the figures saying this is what the minister will charge and so on,” he said.
According to the DA’s calculations based on the Ministerial Handbook, the minister’s salary will be worth R2.4 million per year, and the deputy minister’s salary R2 million per year.
READ MORE: New electricity minister ‘another man in a rotten pot’ – DA
But Mbalula said there would be no deputy minister.
“[There will only be a] the electricity minister focused on solving the electricity crisis as part of the intervention. The Minister, moreover, will work in the field of disaster management and others as a package.
He added that the new minister would continue to brief him on progress made “weekly or monthly”.
“These ministers will be given a mandate and will be more refined so that they are not crippled by intolerant and territorial bullies in the system. Ministers will eat at Eskom, sleep at Eskom, wake up at Eskom and brief the state at Eskom. So this should not be combined with Mondli [Gungubele] and what is required.”
This comment comes after speculation that Gungubel will be appointed to the post.
Reconfiguration of government
Regarding the restructuring of government, Mbalula said this will happen.
The ANC, at its national elective conference, decided that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) such as Eskom South African Airways (SAA) and Transnet would be transferred to the relevant government departments.
“Some will be implemented and some will not be implemented in the long run because government reconfiguration takes time,” he said.
RELATED: ‘The core problem cannot be solved’ by moving Eskom to another department
“We discussed, among other things, what will happen in the department in the long term, not now. Many departments will be reconfigured.
“The president and his team are working on it. We want Eskom to go anywhere, we want SAA to go anywhere and we want the railway and transport issues to go anywhere.
Disaster situation
Mbaula also commented on the government’s decision to impose a state of calamity.
Some have expressed concern that the declaration will lead to widespread looting and corruption.
“People in the framework of the disaster, especially with Covid-19, have committed acts of corruption that have been arrested. We must deal with this corruption and the media does not talk about the amount of money that people have stolen. [via] PPE.
“Some people face the wrath of the law before the courts. Political parties do their job by raising concerns, but at the end of the day we have the responsibility to govern and take the country out of the crisis we are in.
“We are facing a monumental crisis that can be categorized as an existential crisis for this country in terms of business and also South Africa as a brand.”
NOW READ: Electricity minister must be ‘very specific’, De Ruyter called ‘good candidate’