MK sounds a warning to Ramaphosa: Broken promises will cost the ANC at the polls

“Because of your promises, they will make sure your party is punished in the local government elections,” MKP’s Des van Rooyen warned President Cyril Ramaphosa during a heated debate on the State of the Nation Address. uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s MP Des van Rooyen says voters across all provinces have asked the party to tellPresident Cyril Ramaphosathat, because of his unfulfilled promises, they will ensure the ANC is severely punished in this year’s local government elections. He made the remarks during a joint sitting of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday afternoon, where MPs debated Ramaphosa’s recentState of the Nation Address(SONA).

The debate will continue on Wednesday at 2pm. The president is expected to reply on Thursday at 2pm. The SONA, delivered last Thursday, is a joint sitting of the two houses of Parliament and one of the rare occasions that brings together the three arms of state under one roof.

Van Rooyen said the address lasted more than two hours and cost more than R7m from the national fiscus. “The MK Party says it was not a State of the Nation Address. It was a State of Intent Address,” he said.

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“It described plans, committees, trustees, another investment summit and what the government hopes to do.” He said the president had failed to account to the nation for the performance of the disunited so-calledGovernment of National Unity(GNU). “In 2018, the president began his tenure with the Thuma Mina slogan and introduced South Africans to the imaginary story of Tintswalo. Under this slogan and story, we have had only promises.”

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