SONA Reflections

Good Governance Africa provides a critique of President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered on 9 February 2023, praising investments in infrastructure and data-driven crime fighting while expressing concern over the energy crisis, the state of local government, and political instability.

• The author views the president's focus on transportation infrastructure and the completion of the spectrum auction as positive steps that could improve service delivery, facilitate economic development, and reduce regional inequality in rural areas.
• To address the energy crisis, President Ramaphosa announced the creation of a Minister of Electricity cabinet post within the Presidency and the declaration of a national state of disaster. Good Governance Africa expresses mixed reactions, welcoming the insulation of water treatment plants and hospitals and the Auditor-General's monitoring of expenditures, but criticizes the lack of a timeframe for the state of disaster and the absence of a named appointee for the new cabinet post.
• The document highlights a severe crisis in local government, noting that 163 out of 257 municipalities are considered dysfunctional or in distress. The author criticizes the president for failing to mention the "district development model" (DDM), which was previously described as a "game changer" for local governance.
• Political instability is attributed to the disruptive behavior of parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the opportunistic coalition strategies of the Democratic Alliance (DA). The author argues that South Africa lacks a regulatory framework for how coalitions should function, which encourages short-term thinking and the rise of "kingmaker" parties.
• The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has estimated that the economic cost of load shedding is approximately R900 million per day.

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} }