A night when even EFF cheered the president's speech

Not even a single minister was mentioned by name in the President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first state of the nation address. It was a signal that cabinet changes were afoot and that Ramaphosa was ready to swing the axe and reduce the size of the cabinet. The 2018 address was delivered after two weeks of high drama and uncertainty, and brought to a close nine tumultuous years of the Jacob Zuma administration. In the past few years, as opposition protests over Zuma’s scandals intensified, the opening of parliament had been more about political theatre than the content of the nation address.

This year there was little fanfare, minimal security, zero interruptions and wide appreciation of the seriousness of the event. The focus was where it should be – a celebration of the republic and the content of the speech. In the 5300-word speech, which Ramaphosa wrote largely on his own, the president’s first challenge was how to deal with Zuma’s messy exist. He swiftly lanced the boiled, thanking Zuma for his service, then moved on.

“We should put behind us era of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in leaders. We should put all the negativity that has dogged our country behind us because a new dawn is upon up”

In Nelson Mandela’s centenary year, channelling the foundation father came naturally for his favoured son. “We are a nation at one”. He said. “We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people”. A major difference in Ramaphosa’s approach was the suspension of the “royal we”

And the assumption of personal responsibility for key interventions with words “I will”. The only criticism opposition leaders could latch onto that the president deferred too much to summits and councils that he has committed to convening. These included a job summit, an investment conference, a social-sector summit, a youth working group, a presidential economic advisory group, a digital industrial revolution commission and team to speed up implementation of infrastructure project.

It helped that he knew his speech and that he connected with his audience. The homage to the recently deceased Hugh Masekela was sublime – in the words of Thuma Mina and the sentiment behind it. His hand on his heart with words “Send me” was what his people wanted form the new president.

Source: Sunday Times news: Sunday Morning assessment

Title: A night when even EFF Cheered The President's Speech

Author of the title: Ranjeni Munusamy

Link:       https://www.sunday-times.com/live news EFF-vs-President/