PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa must focus on putting plan to action and less on promises when he delivers his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday, 8 February.
This is according to Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) chief executive officer Busiswe Mavuso.
She said the Sona speech is a key agenda setter for the work of government.
"In an election year, there's probably more pressure than ever before to demonstrate success and make bold commitments to action. I hope that in his speech this week, President Ramaphosa will make a clear commitment to the hard work of reform implementation, rather than sloganeering," she said.
Mavuso said in 2023 Ramaphosa had focused his speech on the recovery from the Covid pandemic.
She said Mzansi had moved on and the focus was now much more on improving economic performance, which was being held back by factors unrelated to Covid.
"Our electricity crisis, despite the progress made, remains a significant obstacle and our logistics system has quickly become a disaster for our economy, requiring urgent intervention. Last year, restoring energy security was the president’s 'most immediate priority' and a year later, it is fair to say that progress has been made."
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There has been a dramatic increase in private investment in large-scale electricity generation according to registrations with the electricity regulator.
Mavuso pointed out that this is partly due to government incentives and that there has also been massive investment in rooftop solar by households and businesses.
"Eskom’s operational performance, which the president promised to improve in his speech last year, remains frustratingly far from target, with the energy availability factor so far in January below last year's average. But with the growth in private supply, electricity security can still be achieved," she said.
Mavuso said despite some progress, Mzansi was still suffering from load shedding.
She said the president had also made many promises of increased investment in infrastructure, including logistics, water and roads.
"However, official figures show that public spending on infrastructure has continued to drift downward, while investment from the private sector has grown markedly in the past 18 months. This growth is partly thanks to positive reforms, particularly allowing private investment in infrastructure. But we still see that the public sector is struggling to invest in infrastructure," Mavuso said.
She said unemployment is one of our biggest challenges despite a slight decline in registered unemployment in 2023.
Crime and corruption is another area where the president had promised major progress in 2023.
"Some progress has been made, for example reforms are improving South Africa’s compliance with global money laundering regulations. But we continue to struggle to prosecute those involved in serious corruption, while crime and sabotage are a major cause of our electricity crisis," she said.
