ActionSA demands real accountability, not pie in the sky promises, ahead of SONA

From bullet trains to smart cities, ActionSA said that it does not want to hear any more pie-in-the-sky promises from President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip says that, as this is the first State of the Nation Address where the performance of the Government of National Unity (GNU) can be judged, he expects an honest reflection of the work it has done over the last 18 months.

Trollip has slammed Ramaphosa for appearing reluctant to take action against non-performing ministers.

Veteran politician Athol Trollip has seen and heard it all, and he is not holding his breath for anything different from tonight’s State of the Nation Address.

He says that over thirty years under five successive presidents, the African National Congress(ANC) has failed to fix local government and create jobs.

With the president instructing the Water and Sanitation and Cooperative Governance ministers to skip Thursday night’s opening of Parliament to deal with Gauteng’s water crisis, Trollip—a former mayor—says this is an indictment of poorly functioning municipalities where sabotage is rife.

"The premiers talk about it, the mayors talk about it, but nobody gets held to account."

Trollip also wants the president to make a decisive announcement on the future of suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.

"We still have two ministers. If there isn’t enough damning evidence to incriminate Mchunu, there’s never going to be."

More than 400 MPs and around 250 guests are expected to start making their way down the red carpet this hour.

READ: Ntshavheni promises action on service delivery and crime ahead of Ramaphosa’s address