SONA Reflections

Good Governance Africa provides a critical reflection on the 2023 State of the Nation Address, praising investments in transportation and data costs but expressing concern over the energy crisis and local government failure. The organization highlights the severe economic impact of load shedding and criticizes the lack of a clear timeframe for the declared energy state of disaster. It further notes the absence of updates on the district development model and calls for a regulatory framework to manage municipal coalitions to reduce political instability.

• The South African Reserve Bank estimates that load shedding costs the national economy approximately R900 million per day, causing significant harm to schools, families, local communities, and small businesses.
• President Ramaphosa proposed two primary solutions to the energy crisis: declaring a national state of disaster and creating a Minister of Electricity position within the Presidency. While the monitoring of expenditures by the Auditor-General is welcomed to prevent corruption, the government has failed to provide a timeframe for the state of disaster or a plan for engaging external stakeholders on regulations.
• Local government in South Africa is described as unacceptable, with 163 out of 257 municipalities currently dysfunctional or in distress due to poor service delivery and ineffective or corrupt financial and administrative management.
• The 2023 SONA completely omitted any mention of the 'district development model' (DDM), a framework previously described by the government as a 'game changer' for transforming local governance.
• Political instability in South Africa is exacerbated by the lack of a dedicated regulatory framework for the formation and functioning of coalitions, which encourages short-term thinking and the rise of disruptive 'kingmaker' parties.

APA

Reporter, G. (2023). SONA Reflections. Good Governance Africa. https://gga.org/sona-reflections/

Chicago

Reporter, GGA. SONA Reflections. Good Governance Africa, 2023. https://gga.org/sona-reflections/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Reporter |first1=GGA |title=SONA Reflections |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=13 February 2023 |url=https://gga.org/sona-reflections/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{reporter2023sona, author = {Reporter, GGA}, title = {{SONA Reflections}}, publisher = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2023}, month = feb, url = {https://gga.org/sona-reflections/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }