As all eyes will be on President Cyril Ramaphosa when he delivers the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), the citizens will be eager to know whether he has fulfilled the dozens of promises he made when Parliament was opened last year.

In 2025, Ramaphosa promised, among other things, the preparations for a National Dialogue in which South Africans were to chart a new path for the country.

He had said the Foundations and representatives had been working to unpack the purpose, content, and modalities of the National Dialogue, which was to include the Public Dialogues.

The Dialogue, which was budgeted at nearly R500 million, saw foundations withdraw from the National Dialogue Preparatory Task Team, citing violations of its core principles.

While there was an event hosted by Unisa, the Public Dialogues have yet to take place amid the setting up of some preparatory committees.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile was recently quoted as saying it could still be a while before the second session of the Dialogue takes place.

“So it will take a few months. It’s a very involved, citizen-driven process. The government is supportive of the process,” said Mashatile.

Ramaphosa had promised an extensive consultation to develop an updated White Paper on Local Government to outline a modern and fit-for-purpose local government system.

The Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) published a discussion document seeking comment on reforms to the White Paper in April last year.

CoGTA Minister Velenkosi Hlabisa said: “The aim is to publish an updated White Paper on Local Government by March 2026.”

There is work under way to draft a new policy, which proposes a review of local government’s institutional and legislative frameworks to strengthen the local government.

This comes as the National Treasury has introduced a Municipal Debt Relief Package for municipalities owing large sums of money to Eskom and water boards.

In June last year, municipal debt to water boards stood at R25.1 billion, and there are moves to withhold Equitable Share transfers by the National Treasury from non-compliant municipalities and redirect funds to settle debts with service providers.

Ramaphosa also promised investment in digital public infrastructure to give South Africans access to government services anytime, anywhere, through a relaunched gov.za platform.

Minister for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Maropene Ramokgopa, said recently that the MyMzansi digital prototype was launched and is doing very well.

“If that integration is done well, we will see other departments, like Basic Education and the Transport Department, also plugging in as it relates to the issuance of licences,” said Ramokgopa.

The Department of Home Affairs has implemented digital initiatives aimed at streamlining its operations ahead of making its services fully digital.

It has introduced self-service kiosks at selected branches, an electronic visa system, and expanded the number of bank branches able to render Home Affairs services.

Late last year, Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber launched two digital visa initiatives in a bid to support the rollout of the pending Electronic Travel Authorisation.

Whereas Ramaphosa promised that the government would spend more than R940 billion on infrastructure over the next three years, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a R1 trillion allocation for infrastructure investment over the medium term.

Godongwana announced in the Adjustment Budget that a new Infrastructure Finance and Implementation Support Agency would be operational by March 2026.

“It (the agency) will centralise infrastructure finance functions to systematically crowd-in private capital and promote the use of alternative delivery mechanisms.”

Regarding electricity,  Ramaphosa said their immediate focus was to enable Eskom, Transnet, and other state-owned enterprises that are vital to the economy to function optimally.

This is work in progress as Phase Two of Operation Vulindlela, according to the government, is to accelerate inclusive growth by restructuring state-owned enterprises.

The Presidency in a report said there was a dedicated SOE Reform Unit and implementing a new model to strengthen governance and oversight.

The National Transmission Company of South Africa has been established to serve as the independent system and market operator, ensuring non-discriminatory access to the grid.

In December 2025, a refined unbundling strategy was approved, creating separate subsidiaries for generation, transmission, and distribution under a holding company.

In 2025, a Rail Infrastructure Manager was established within Transnet to facilitate private train operators’ access to the network.

Meanwhile, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau published the Draft Transformation Fund concept document for public comment in line with the SONA promise of a fund worth R20 billion a year over the next five years to fund black-owned and small business enterprises.

In January 2026, Tau published proposed amendments to the existing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment codes of good practice in a bid to open the way for the establishment of a new Transformation Fund.

mayibonwge.maqhian@inl.co.za

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