Thursday, 6 February 2025

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) rejects, with contempt, the directionless, inept, and incoherent State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by Cyril Ramaphosa. The SONA was nothing but a desperate attempt to mask the catastrophic failures of the neoliberal, right-wing so-called Government of National Unity (GNU).

Since the formation of the GNU, this unholy alliance between the African National Congress (ANC) and the racist Democratic Alliance (DA) has delivered nothing but chaos, regression, and suffering for the people of South Africa, particularly workers and the poor. The GNU was supposedly established to stabilise the economy, promote economic growth, reduce poverty, and build a capable and ethical state—yet, in every measurable aspect, it has failed dismally.

When opening the 7th Administration in July 2024, Ramaphosa boldly proclaimed that the GNU would place inclusive economic growth at the centre of its agenda. This was supposedly meant to drive job creation, empower black South Africans, and uplift the most vulnerable. However, South Africa’s economy remains in a dire state, with economic growth averaging below 1.5% annually and projected to grow by less than 2% over the next three years.

Instead of implementing bold, state-led industrial policies, the GNU has left South Africa’s economy at the mercy of white-owned private businesses that prioritise profits over national development while the masses remain jobless and impoverished. The cost-of-living crisis has worsened, with inflation pushing working-class families to the brink of survival. Just last week, there was an approved 12.7% hike in electricity tariffs set to take effect in April and an increase in fuel prices by 75 cents per litre.

The most urgent crisis facing this nation is unemployment, yet Ramaphosa failed to provide a concrete plan to address this national economic security threat. Unemployment continues to rise, particularly among black women and young people, who were promised in previous addresses that they would be a priority.

The official unemployment rate stands at 32.1%, but this figure does not reflect the full extent of economic exclusion. A staggering 3.5 million (34%) of youth aged 15-24 are excluded from employment, education, or training. Black Africans face an unemployment rate of 36.1%, higher than the national average, with nearly 39% of black African women unable to find jobs. Even graduate unemployment has risen to 9.8%, proving that higher education is no longer a safeguard against economic hardship.

Despite these dire circumstances, Ramaphosa continues to deceive the nation by claiming the Presidential Employment Stimulus has succeeded. This is a blatant lie. The program has completely failed, as evidenced by the continued high levels of joblessness, particularly among the youth. The GNU has no real plan to create jobs, and its so-called meaningful partnerships are nothing but empty rhetoric, as businesses continue to pull in different directions, hoarding their wealth in offshore accounts instead of investing in the South African economy.

Furthermore, the GNU has adopted the so-called Medium-Term Development Plan without explaining what happened to the National Development Plan (NDP) or acknowledging the failure of what was essentially a misguided and impractical policy. This deliberate erasure of previous commitments is nothing more than an attempt to hide decades of neoliberal economic mismanagement under the ANC and DA.

Ramaphosa is continuing the privatisation of energy, rather than rebuilding and solidifying Eskom for national energy security and sovereignty. The ongoing unbundling of Eskom will not solve the energy crisis but will instead place South Africa’s energy future in the hands of profit-driven corporations that will exploit the people for financial gain. The GNU is deliberately weakening Eskom so that the private sector can take over, despite the disastrous consequences this has had in other developing economies.

The allocation of R940 billion for infrastructure development is woefully inadequate, given the extent of infrastructure collapse and backlog, particularly in water supply, roads, and healthcare facilities. The EFF demands that the government significantly increase infrastructure spending, prioritising maintenance, refurbishment, and rebuilding through state-owned companies to eliminate the need for tenders, inflated prices, and poor management of projects. The outsourcing of essential infrastructure projects to private contractors has led to rampant corruption, poor-quality service delivery, and wasted public funds.

State-owned entities such as Eskom, Transnet, and others will not function effectively as Ramaphosa claims, because his administration is actively privatising everything instead of rebuilding state capacity to ensure South Africa is not dependent on the private sector for critical areas of economic growth and job creation. We do not need a Transformation Fund; we need state-owned initiatives that will facilitate the transfer of wealth to the majority of South Africans, starting with land redistribution.

South Africa remains the most industrialised economy in Africa, yet this industrialisation was state led under apartheid, using state-owned entities that the GNU is now deliberately collapsing. The so-called structural reforms under Ramaphosa’s administration are nothing more than a continuation of failed neoliberal policies that have stripped the state of its capacity to drive development.

Instead of protecting key industries, the GNU is creating avenues for private companies to infiltrate and eventually take over essential services, prioritising profits over public welfare. The National State Enterprises Bill, introduced by Minister Maropene Ramokgopa, is a clear attempt to facilitate full-scale privatisation under the deceptive guise of restructuring. This Bill proposes centralising all state assets under a State Asset Management SOC (SAMSOC), which will dictate the operations of SOEs under a centrally approved plan. This model does not strengthen SOEs; it strips them of their autonomy and opens the floodgates for private sector interference.

The failure of municipalities under the GNU is another clear indication that this government is incapable of governance. The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which oversees the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA), has failed dismally to address service delivery failures. Municipalities are plagued by corruption, mismanagement, and a lack of capacity. Instead of developing internal municipal capacity, billions are wasted on consultants, with R1.3 billion spent on financial statement preparation alone and R24 billion recorded in irregular expenditure. This reckless misuse of public funds is further proof that the GNU has no interest in genuine service delivery.

Furthermore, the DA’s municipalities in Cape Town are mired in tender corruption and state capture, with fraudulent housing tenders implicating Mayoral Committee Members, including JP Smith. Fraud charges against former DA official Malusi Booi further expose the DA’s deep-rooted looting of public resources. The DA has facilitated corruption exceeding R1 billion in the housing and construction sectors, worsening Cape Town’s housing crisis and leaving thousands without homes.

The EFF will not stand idle while the ANC and DA destroy the gains of our democratic revolution. We demand an end to the privatisation agenda, the immediate strengthening of SOEs, and a clear plan for economic transformation that prioritises black empowerment, job creation, and service delivery. We call on all South Africans to reject this corrupt, visionless, and incompetent coalition.

ISSUED BY THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Leigh-Ann Mathys (National Spokesperson) 082 304 7572

Thato Lebyane (Media Enquiries) 078 304 7572