10 questions MPs should ask the President in his SONA reply

The IEJ criticizes President Ramaphosa's SONA for lacking concrete plans to address South Africa's economic crises, poverty, and unemployment. The organization urges MPs to question the President on the sustainability of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, the risks of private sector-led infrastructure and energy transitions, the 'starvation' of public services by the National Treasury, and the failure to hold state capture perpetrators accountable. The IEJ specifically calls for a transition to a Universal Basic Income Guarantee and the use of the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA) to fund developmental priorities.

• The IEJ argues that the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant is insufficient and inaccessible, noting that the number of beneficiaries fell from 11 million in 2022 to 8.5 million in 2023 despite approximately 16 million eligible people. The grant has remained at R350 since 2020 and is scheduled to expire in March 2025.
• The document warns that relying on private sector finance for the Just Energy Transition and infrastructure is an expensive approach that risks increasing end-user fees and marginalizing the poor, while benefiting the private sector.
• The IEJ claims the National Treasury is undermining public services through budget cuts, citing R10 billion and R2 billion cuts from healthcare and education spending respectively in the 2023 Medium Term Budget and Expenditure Framework (MTBPS).
• The IEJ highlights the existence of the Gold and Foreign Exchange Contingency Reserve Account (GFECRA), an almost R500 billion fund held by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), which it suggests should be used to resource policy priorities like the SRD grant and capital expenditure.
• The document asserts that the current focus on Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the energy transition excludes developmental industrial finance for local renewable energy manufacturing.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2024). 10 questions MPs should ask the President in his SONA reply. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/10-questions-mps-should-ask-the-president-in-his-sona-reply/

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. 10 questions MPs should ask the President in his SONA reply. 2024. https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/10-questions-mps-should-ask-the-president-in-his-sona-reply/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=10 questions MPs should ask the President in his SONA reply |date=12 February 2024 |url=https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/10-questions-mps-should-ask-the-president-in-his-sona-reply/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2024questions, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{10 questions MPs should ask the President in his SONA reply}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/press-room/statements/10-questions-mps-should-ask-the-president-in-his-sona-reply/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }