Days Before the State of the Nation Address: Communities Are Still Waiting for Last Year’s Promises
Siyabulela Jentile
Human Rights Activist
By Siyabulela Jentile
Managing Director: Civic Root Advocacy
With the State of the Nation Address set to take place this Thursday, Civic Root Advocacy reminds South Africans that communities across the country are still waiting for the implementation of commitments made in previous SONA speeches.
Year after year, the nation is presented with ambitious plans, bold language, and renewed undertakings from the highest office in the land.
Yet on the ground, millions of South Africans continue to experience failing service delivery, collapsing municipalities, persistent unemployment, and a widening distance between government and the people it is meant to serve.
For many communities, SONA has become a moment of hope followed by prolonged disappointment.
As South Africa moves closer to the 2026 Local Government Elections, the credibility of this year’s State of the Nation Address will not be measured by rhetoric, but by what has tangibly changed in communities since the last address.
Public confidence in government is not eroded by criticism, but by the lived reality of unfulfilled promises and the absence of visible consequences for failure.
Local government remains the weakest link in the state.
Across the country, municipalities are struggling to deliver basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, road maintenance, and waste management.
These failures are not abstract or technical; they shape daily life, undermine dignity, and deepen inequality.
They also fuel public anger, civic disengagement, and declining trust in democratic institutions.
Civic Root Advocacy believes that SONA must move beyond announcing new initiatives while previous commitments remain unfulfilled.
South Africans are not suffering from a lack of policies or plans.
They are suffering from weak implementation, poor coordination across spheres of government, limited accountability, and a persistent absence of consequence management.
We further caution against a State of the Nation Address that prioritises investor confidence while ignoring the lived realities of ordinary people.
Economic growth cannot be sustained without functional local governance, ethical leadership, and communities that feel heard, respected, and meaningfully included in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
On the eve of SONA, Civic Root Advocacy calls on President Cyril Ramaphosa to speak candidly about what has not worked, to account clearly for commitments made in previous State of the Nation Addresses, to address decisively the crisis in local government and service delivery, and to outline concrete, time-bound measures to restore accountability and rebuild public trust.
Civic participation must be treated as a pillar of democratic renewal, not as an optional add-on.
As Civic Root Advocacy, we will be closely monitoring the address and its implications for communities across the country.
We will continue to engage the public, the media, and decision-makers to ensure that commitments made are not forgotten once the applause fades.
South Africans deserve more than promises.
They deserve progress, dignity, and a state that works.
We remember what was promised. The nation is still waiting.