By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Members of political parties gave speeches in Parliament in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) last week.
Speaking during the debate on Wednesday, the MK party’s MP Nhlamulo Ndhlela said Ramaphosa had spoken like someone who delivered his maiden speech with recycled promises and hollow rhetoric.
Ndhlela said the annual address should not be a ceremonial platform for “lofty” promises.
“It should be a moment of accountability where the nation hears an honest assessment of past commitments and concrete plans for the future,” he said.
Ndhlela, who repeatedly stated that Ramaphosa was leading a failed state, took a swipe at land reform issues and said the recent signing of the Expropriation Act by Ramaphosa was a re-branded Apartheid relic of the repackaged 1975 legislation.
“It is the same apartheid wine in a different bottle. The MK Party will not endorse half-baked legislation. We will push for an amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to enable genuine land expropriation without compensation, to return the land to our people.”
EFF MP Omphile Maotwe said Ramaphosa made promises every year without accounting for the promises he made the previous year.
“It is as if he is permanently on the reset button and the sad thing is every time he opens his mouth more and more people become statistics of unemployment, poverty, rape and murder.
“Ramaphosa, why don’t you rather keep quiet and look after your Ankole.”
Maotwe said there was need for the expropriation of land without compensation and the urgent establishment of a state bank.
“We need to finalise the nationalisation of the SARB (South African Reserve Bank). We have no time to waste on that. We need to establish a grant for all unemployed graduates and all unemployed persons as a matter of urgency,” Maotwe said.
In an apparent response to MK Party and EFF criticism, ANC MP Cameron Dugmore took a swipe at the ANC’s breakaway parties.
Dugmore laughed off the MK Party’s demand for the removal of Ramaphosa as ANC leader if both parties were to enter into coalition and the Jacob Zuma-led party’s prediction of the death of the GNU (Government of National Unity).
“The implosion of MK Party has begun. The Twitter war amongst unelected leaders is going on,” he said in reference to a social media spat between Zuma’s daughter Duduzile ZumaSambudla and the party’s Secretary General Floyd Shivambu.
Dugmore also questioned how the EFF would have thought that it would be a trusted party.
Also speaking during the Sona debate, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi noted some critics and doomsayers of the NHI (National Health Insurance) still persisted with their denial, despite Ramaphosa indicating they will proceed with the preparatory work for the establishment of the public health policy.
The health minister accused critics of NHI of spreading “distortions”.
Turning to IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa, who said at the Tuesday debate that the IFP favoured a “more incremental approach” to implementing the NHI, Motsoaledi said: “We agree with you 100%… There’s no way of implementing NHI except gradually.
The minister quoted the Act as stipulating that the system would be “gradually phased in”.
Hlabisa had also said on Tuesday that the IFP should prioritise strengthening existing public health systems.
Motsoaledi said that there, too, they were in agreement: “Strengthening the healthcare system and implementing NHI are not mutually exclusive.”
The DA has threatened to withdraw support for the Budget over disagreements with the ANC on contentious pieces of legislation. The Budget is due to be tabled on 19 February.
DA MP Dean Macpherson used his speech during the debate to list successes of the Public Works and Infrastructure Department and its planned activities.
Macpherson said vacant state-owned properties have been released for a request for proposal, inviting public and private properties to submit ideas in a major policy shift.
“In our first round, we will release 31 properties for redevelopment, valued at R1.4billion. This is estimated to generate up to R10bn in private investment, create over 165000 jobs and generate close to R200 million in rental income for the South African government.”