The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has delivered a blistering assessment of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA), labeling the parliamentary event a “waste of R7 million” and accusing the President of recycling failed economic policies.
Speaking to the media immediately following the address at the Cape Town City Hall, MKP Member of Parliament Mzwanele Manyi did not hold back in his criticism of the government’s performance over the past year.
“This was a waste of 7 million rand. He could have just sat in his office and did like he did in COVID times,” Manyi said. “There was really no point in us coming here to hear more of the same.”
Manyi took aim at the President’s previous economic projections, noting that the 3% growth target promised in last year’s address had failed to materialize. “What did we have? We didn’t even get to 1%,” he said, adding that unemployment and poverty have both risen despite pledges to create jobs.
The MKP MP also zeroed in on the country’s ongoing water shortages, describing the situation as a “corruption-inspired” crisis. “This water crisis that we have is man-made. It’s because of corruption and lack of governance, lack of maintaining proper infrastructure. That’s what you always get,” Manyi stated.
He further dismissed the fanfare surrounding the government’s investment summits, arguing that corporations are merely repackaging existing capital expenditure plans as new pledges. “Companies come and they pull wool over his eyes. They tell him all the capexes that they would have otherwise have planned for the next five years—they present them as if it’s some pledges. People are excited when people are just running their businesses.”
Concluding his remarks, Manyi noted that the absence of former President Jacob Zuma from the proceedings was telling. “Indeed we think it was a real complete use of time, and I’m not surprised President Zuma decided not to come here.”
The MKP has positioned itself as a fierce critic of the Ramaphosa administration, and Tuesday night’s address appears to have done little to bridge the divide.