‘He doesn’t have the necessary capacity’: Opposition leaders react after Ramaphosa’s Sona

President Cyril Ramaphosa at the State of The Nation Address (Sona) at Cape Town City Hall on February 12, 2026 in Cape Town, South Africa. Picture: Gallo Images/Jeffrey Abrahams Leaders of opposition political parties called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure the commitments he made during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday are not empty promises. EFF leader Julius Malema criticised Ramaphosa for regurgitating things he said in previous Sona speeches.

Speaking after Ramaphosa’s address before Parliament in Cape Town, Malema said he welcomed the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to gang-ridden areas, but had heard everything else before. “Today, the difference is that he’s saying them with energy,” Malema said. He also attacked Ramaphosa’s tendency to establish task teams, after the president announced that he put together a task team to tackle the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) pandemic and another to restructure Eskom and establish a fully independent state-owned transmission entity.

“And this thing of task teams – task team after task team – it’s a person who’s failing to execute their own responsibility, and they shift it to other people,” Malema said. “So, it’s a confirmation that he doesn’t have the necessary capacity in the government of national unity to deal with issues that he wants to deal with. So, we are here again, listening to a man who is using a government platform during an election year to launch a campaign, to campaign for his political party.” Rise Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi said the Sona delivered no surprises, and what is now required is “urgency, care and accountability”.

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“We have heard big promises made in the past, yet when the Budget is delivered weeks later, there is rarely an indication that the government has aligned its funding with its commitments,” Zibi said. “The talking is over. It is now time to urgently deliver, care for the people and hold accountable those who betray our constitutional principles and values.” Zibi said he will reserve his judgment until the Budget is delivered.

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