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Another blockbuster SONA, right?

Devoid of much of the usual pomp, ceremony, and squandering of money (for which South Africa is grateful, and long may it continue), President Ramaphosa’s SONA 2021 address got underway at around 7PM last night.

You can watch it in full here, but it’s a Friday and you have better things to do with your time.

Instead, let’s have a quick look at The Daily Maverick’s analysis, which says the speech signals “tough times ahead”.

I don’t think we were under any other illusions.

President Ramaphosa repeatedly used fynbos as an analogy, stressing its hardy nature and resilience, although unlike fynbos, the South African economy does need power 24 hours a day in order to function properly.

More from The Daily Maverick’s analysis:

Floral analogies aside, Thursdays’ Sona was more of a report back on what Ramaphosa’s administration believes it has delivered since the 15 October 2020 Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan announcement and the 21 April 2020 Covid-19 stimulus package that despite the officially proclaimed R500-billion, has never quite added up as much of the stimulus was based on taxes permitted to not be paid and loans that needed approvals.

But Ramaphosa sharply set out his administration’s four priorities.

“We must defeat the coronavirus pandemic; that is the primary aim in all we do. And second, we must accelerate our economic recovery. Third, we must implement economic reforms to create sustainable jobs and drive inclusive growth. And finally, we must fight corruption and strengthen the state.”

Who is this we? Ramaphosa keeps speaking about corruption as if it’s something that everyday South Africans can actively combat, whilst those inside the ANC whose fingers are stained get shuffled from one department to another, without a shred of accountability.

On the vaccine front:

…Ramaphosa said the first 80,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines for healthcare workers would arrive in South Africa next week. Over the next four weeks, another 500,000 vaccines will follow of a total of nine million Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Twenty million Pfizer vaccine doses will be delivered from the end of March 2021; 12 million doses have been secured from the Covax facility.

Our economic recovery will be spearheaded by “localisation”, with plans to focus on sectors like clothing, chicken, vehicle, and sugar, along with 42 other products that can be sourced locally.

Yes, we have heard this before, which was something opposition party leaders were quick to point out once Ramaphosa’s address had ended.

You know what we need? Spreadsheets:

My partner just said well you need to inspire people. Yeah sure, that’s what column 3 is for.

— Gwen Ngwenya (@GwenNgwenya) February 11, 2021

Spreadsheets and accountability, and not a red carpet interview in sight.

If South Africa was run like a business, you’d look at the setup and think how is upper management still there?

Our political parties benefit greatly from the fact that the average attention span has been reduced to the length of a TikTok video.

What was I saying again? Oh yes, all those promises:

So, a bit of something for everyone. Or almost.

The proof will be in members of Ramaphosa’s administration actually doing their bit — from Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi releasing, as promised, the scarce skills lists, and for Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe giving details on the additional 11,800MW of renewable energy.

With a long wait for vaccines ahead, and healthcare workers talking of an inevitable third wave down the line, we’ll need all the fynbos-like resilience we can muster.

Read The Daily Maverick’s full analysis here.

Oh, and for a trip down memory lane, here’s a TimesLIVE video of interesting SONA memories from years gone by:

[source:dailymaverick]