CAPE TOWN - Forget your dreams of smart cities and bullet trains which you have spectacularly failed to deliver, Mr President, and wake up.
Our country is burning and it seems that you, the captain of the ship, will wake up only when ashes are left.
Today’s State of the Nation Address comes at a time when the country is yearning for decisive leadership, something that has been missing since you took over.
At that time, many will remember how desperate our country was for change. So much has happened since then, but very little for the good, unfortunately.
The inequality gap has widened, unemployment, especially among the youth and black women, is alarmingly high, the fight against corruption appears to be long lost and violence against women and children is a pandemic on its own.
Some of the issues pre-date the Covid-19 pandemic, so using that and state capture as an excuse is beating a dead horse.
Worryingly, more and more black-owned businesses are shutting down and you and the minister of small business are missing in action.
The July unrest and the subsequent expert panel report released this week paint a bleak picture that might leave some convinced that we are fast becoming a failed state.
We hope we never get to this point but, those who believe this might have a valid reason to do so.
But it’s your government that has failed South Africans, especially the poor, in many ways.
You have hardly delivered on any of the promises and this has characterised how this administration responds to the problems in the country.
Some have even argued that you have delegated your responsibilities by establishing task teams and commissions of inquiries, paid for by the public purse, when you could have simply acted.
We know that you have not implemented any of the recommendations contained in the 81 SIU reports since you took office.
When you deliver the State of the Nation Address this evening, be mindful of the factors that triggered the July mayhem.
The panel of experts that probed the July events has told you: “The need to stop corruption in government and start addressing the needs of the people kept being kicked down the road, like the proverbial can.”
We hope the panel’s report will not join the others gathering dust in the Union Buildings.
Cape Times