Sona… so what? We should all tune out of this presidential charade

As an individual keen on events shaping South Africa’s economic and policy landscape, the President’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) – an annual spectacle marking the opening of Parliament’s new calendar year – used to be an occasion I observed with genuine interest over the past couple of decades.

Fast forward to the present, and things have changed. Come 8 February this year, I’ve decided to make more productive use of the hour (or longer, if the EFF decides to grace us with their usual circus antics) that President Cyril Ramaphosa is slated to use for what many anticipate to be a session filled with empty back-patting and electioneering prattle.

This year’s Sona appears poised for the repeated government self-adulation, with minimal acknowledgement of the nation’s grim reality.

I can almost hear the chorus of sceptics asking: “What took you so long?” The growing trend of tuning out of the presidential Sona charade has been palpable for years, and I’ve finally succumbed to the decision to abstain from this year’s event and future Sonas, until a more credible and sensible figure takes the stage.

Sona has morphed into Parliament’s annual Oscars gala, with politicians and guests bedecked in their finest, as if celebrating a year of effective legislating and government efficiency. Regrettably, reality paints a starkly different picture.

Frankly, I’ve grown weary of the myriad proposals and promises from past Sonas that have never materialised.