For the first time in several years, electricity did not dominate the president’s address

The crisis has exposed governance and infrastructure gaps as residents face ‘Day Zero’ conditions in multiple high-demand areas

The Madlanga commission and parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating corruption in policing have opened a crucial public conversation, analysts say

Even before his speech on Thursday, many opposition parties had already given the president a ‘fail’

A year after the president’s first State of the Nation address as the leader of a coalition government, performance has been good and bad

For weary citizens, the president’s address has become a ritual of promises rather than a moment of reckoning. If it is to regain its dignity, it must strip away the gloss and return to its core purpose

As President Cyril Ramaphosa prepared to present his State of the Nation address (Sona) on Thursday, his second in the government of national unity (GNU), residents of some suburbs across Joburg were protesting about the lack of water.   The crisis has left no one untouched. Businesses, forced to shut their doors as the crisis deepens, […]

The Lanseria smart city remains a dream and hunger, unemployment and crime continue to be high but there has been progress in Eskom’s turnaround

Perhaps the most tangible area of progress since SONA 2025 has been energy stabilisation. The marked reduction in the frequency and severity of load-shedding, including extended periods without outages, reflects the cumulative impact of the Energy Action Plan and improved maintenance discipline at Eskom

The president said senior officials in municipalities would be appointed through an independent process free from political interference

South Africa’s creative sector went into the State of the Nation address with a clear demand: recognition, reform and rescue. What it received was silence. Just days before President Cyril Ramaphosa took to the podium, hundreds of film and television workers marched under the banner “Save SA Film Jobs”, warning that the industry was in […]

The focus is on manufacturing green products for global markets and modernising the country’s power system, the president says

The president said the South African National Defence Force would be deployed to support police in tackling gang violence and illegal mining

The president said the army would be deployed to tackle illegal mining and gang violence and pledged urgent action against organised crime

Party leader Julius Malema said the move signalled the president’s loss of confidence in the police

In a pointed message to powerful nations, the president declared that South Africa’s sovereignty was “sacrosanct” and would not be compromised

The president announced a mass vaccination drive of the country’s entire cattle herd as the government moves to limit economic damage, export bans and further losses to farmers

The government is moving to establish a national water crisis committee, intervene in failing municipalities and hold municipal managers criminally accountable for persistent water outages

This was Ramaphosa’s ninth address since being elected in 2019

President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address live from Cape Town City Hall.