On Thursday, all eyes will be fixated on President Zuma as he delivers the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The speech, due to be delivered at 19:00 before a combined gathering of Parliament, cabinet, the judiciary and the public will seek to build on his previous speeches and the ruling party’s 2015 January 8th statement.
The occasion is steeped in tradition and includes a red carpet procession, a 21-gun salute and an Air Force flypast.
21-gun salute, SONA, June 2014
The speech will be delivered against the background of an energy crisis, persistent unemployment and inequality, a weakened economy, and problems weighing down state owned companies. The President is expected to talk to these challenges and set out his successes, vision and priorities for the forthcoming year.
The biggest talking point however has been the threats by the EFF to disrupt the President’s speech. Even though Parliament has set aside a date for the President to answer questions in the legislature (11 March 2015), the EFF remains adamant that it will interrrupt proceedings and even has a countdown clock on its website to advertise the event. Parliament has tried to discourage this, stating that it is an accepted practice that the President delivers his speech without any interruptions or questions as political parties will have an opportunity to engage with the speech during the ensuing debate (scheduled for 17, 18 and 19 February). It further pointed out that, no provision is made in the rules for debate or the asking of questions during this special joint sitting. It remains to be seen whether the EFF will carry out its threaths. One thing it has guaranteed is that viewing figures will be high.
Don’t expect inspirational and soaring rhetoric in the 5,000-word speech (we assume it will be this long as this is the average length of all the President’s past SONA speeches). It is usually a laundry list of priorities, achievements, targets and plans.
Watch the first SONA in 2014, here.
Watch the second SONA in 2014, here.
In the Committee corridor, the Portfolio committee on Public Works will meet with the Minister to discuss policy matters, including outstanding legislation to be brought before it.
Update: The above-mentioned committee meeting was cancelled.
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