Ethekwini Municipality councillor Patrick Pillay stated that the State of the Nation Address (SONA), on Thursday, did not resonate with grassroots issues such as the plight of the poor.

Pillay, who is the leader of the Democratic Liberal Congress (DLC) in eThekwini, said he was not impressed with SONA 2026 because it was similar to SONA 2025 with the exception that this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa will be hands-on in focusing on the water infrastructure issues and water outages, as well as corruption within the SAPS by addressing the outcomes of the Madlanga Commission and the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee recommendations. 

In his address, Ramaphosa promised to fix broken municipalities by, among other things, holding their senior managers personally accountable for failing to deliver services, including water.  

He said many municipalities’ administrations were weak because they are governed by patronage “rather than technical capacity and merit”.

He announced that to address the challenges facing municipalities, the state has introduced a new R54 billion incentive for metros to reform their water, sanitation, and electricity services.

He said that in the coming months, the government will finalise a revised White Paper on Local Government to make the municipal system more effective and better functioning than the current system. 

The Government of National Unity (GNU) is focusing on three strategic priorities:

• Inclusive economic growth and job creation
• Reducing poverty and the cost of living
• Building a capable, ethical, developmental state is too complex and fragmented. 

Pillay said SONA did not address the real grassroots issues and on-the-ground realities, such as pensioners’ plight, the unemployed, and the high tariff increases. 

“Crime is happening daily, and nothing is effectively being done about protecting our civil society from criminals. While there was great emphasis on an improving economy, it has yet to prove that this will translate into job creation,” he said. 

Pillay highlighted that the unemployment among youths is very high and they have great difficulty in finding employment. 

“Poverty is a factor that is highly prevalent throughout Phoenix. Service delivery is at an all-time low in Phoenix. Having a grand SONA annual event has not translated to lifestyle improvements for families,” he stated.

Pillay said that while there was no loadshedding, frequent electricity outages sometimes for more than 24 hours, are an inconvenience. 

“The President really has a lot to work on to prove that the SONA will translate into a better life for everyone. For the past years, the fancy SONA did very little for our struggling society that was marred with corruption, service delivery issues and high-level poverty,” he said. 

Ramaphosa highlighted the eThekwini municipality’s progress, noting that strengthened service delivery interventions have contributed to a significant boost in business confidence, which now stands at over 63.38 points. eThekwini municipality mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba welcomed the President’s commendation, describing it as an important affirmation of the work being undertaken to stabilise and improve municipal services.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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