DURBAN – President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to restore hope for the country’s citizens when he delivers the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday evening, the United Association of SA (Uasa) said on Tuesday.
The union, Uasa, called for clear plans on the economic and social issues that have South Africans reeling.
It said in a post-Covid world, the country needed stern economic intervention, sustainable job creation and other strategies to get back on track.
“South Africans are overwhelmed by the knowledge that the government and the state failed us miserably on so many levels.
“The nation has had enough of Ramaphosa’s familiar “feel-good” addresses; instead, we demand answers and sustainable plans for the year and the future.
“We have had enough job summits and costly initiatives in the hope of attracting investors with no concrete results,” said Uasa spokesperson Abigail Moyo.
Uasa said plans should include:
* Decisive actions against the corrupt leaders who ruined our SOEs.
* Plans to restore SOEs to the proud institutions they once were.
* Firm action to review and upgrade the country’s security cluster.
* Unwavering commitment to restore the economy, even if it means involving the private sector to a greater extent.
She said South Africans were facing challenges from all sides due to rocketing fuel prices, increasing unemployment, increases in the repo rate and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reaching 5%.
“The July riots and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng caused financial and structural damage running into the billions. SOEs remain a glaring disgrace. Our members at Denel have last seen full salaries paid more than 20 months ago,” Moyo continued.
Moyo questioned whether Ramaphosa would continue to turn a blind eye to leaders who emptied SOE coffers to enrich themselves, or whether they would be put to use for which they were intended such as to provide access to water, electricity, sanitation and transportation for South Africans.
She decried how load shedding continued to drive the economy to the edge as power cuts put businesses at risk.
Moyo said it had become painfully clear that South Africans could not depend on the SAPS, the State Security Agency (SSA) and the SA National Defence Force to keep them safe as they had failed miserably to provide government with intelligence on domestic threats to national stability, the constitutional order, and the safety and well-being of the people, as is its mandate.
“Under the security cluster’s watch, mobs looted and burnt businesses in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng with devastating consequences, while the Parliament buildings were consumed by fire. Ramaphosa used strong language after the looting, promising that no stone would be left unturned to find and punish the instigators.
“We heard that leaders of the looters had been identified. Disappointingly but sadly not unexpected, no one has been apprehended or held to book,” Moyo stressed
She concluded by challenging the president to reassure the country’s citizens by taking action and fulfilling the promises.
THE MERCURY