“We won’t be bullied.” These words by President Cyril Ramaphosa during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in response to US president Donald Trump’s verbal attacks on South Africa grabbed headlines, but SONA 2025 had much more to unpack than that.
On Friday, 7 February, the North-West University (NWU) Business School hosted its Pitso discussion analysing SONA 2025 under the theme of: In pursuit of “sufficient consensus”: SONA 2025.
The discussion examined whether President Ramaphosa’s speech reflected the principles of “sufficient consensus” and what this means for the future of South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU).
Columnist and analyst Khaya Sithole served as moderator, while the panel of experts consisted of Duma Gqubule, columnist and founder of the Centre for Economic Development and Transformation, Dr Ntsikelelo Benjamin Breakfast, the acting director of the Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution at the NWU, and Samkele Thabani Maseko, who is a political reporter at the SABC.
The trio, with Sithole organising proceedings, critically evaluated the policy priorities outlined in SONA 2025 and their potential to strengthen unity or heighten divisions within the coalition government. Other points of discussion included the durability of the GNU, indicators with reference to the budget and economic growth expectations.
Both Dr Breakfast and Sithole agreed in their assessment of SONA 2025 that it felt like an ANC-centric speech and not one reflective of the GNU. Gqubule delivered a scathing criticism of President Ramaphosa’s approach to unemployment and growth, calling him the worst president since 1994. “I wanted to cry listening to that speech,” he said of President Ramaphosa’s tenth SONA. Maseko also noted the number of pipe-dream projects that have been hallmarks of President Ramaphosa’s previous SONAs. In this case, all agreed that the projected 3% GDP growth is unattainable.
Another major point of discussion was US-South Africa relations in the aftermath of recent remarks by President Trump and some of his allies.
Each panellist gave President Ramaphosa’s speech a score out of 10, with Maseko giving it an overall 7, Dr Breakfast gave it an overall 5, while Gqubule focused on the economic aspects of SONA 2025, and gave that area a 3.
