'High unemployment and crime should top Ramaphosa's 2026 SONA agenda'

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa's 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) must be anchored on tackling the country's dangerously high unemployment rate of 42.4% and sluggish 1% economic growth, says Cosatu's parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks.

- MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA

President Cyril Ramaphosa

The government' plans for the year must also focus on entrenched levels of poverty and inequality, and endemic crime and corruption, Parks added.

Ramaphosa is set to deliver his SONA at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday. Parties will debate SONA on February 17 and 18, followed by a reply from Ramaphosa on February 19.

Cosatu said it was fundamental that the government respond decisively to the cries and hopes of the working class and society in general.

Parks highlighted the encouraging progress in tackling load shedding.

"It is critical that further support be given towards reducing the increasingly unaffordable price of electricity."

He added that the positive turnarounds being achieved at Transnet and Metrorail should be accelerated, including helping Transnet reduce its debt burden, expediting infrastructure investments, and putting in place tight security to protect commuters and property.