WATCH | ANC calls for decisive economic action ahead of Sona, DA wants infrastructure reform

ANC NEC member and MP, Khusela Diko, says the party expects “decisive action” from the president, anchored in a concrete economic reform agenda.

Diko told Business Day that while recent indicators suggest the economy has stabilised and decline has been arrested, reform must now deepen and accelerate. She identified industrial policy as central, structured around:

• decarbonisation;
• greater use and beneficiation of critical minerals; and
• diversification of trade.

Recent trade engagements with China, she suggested, reflect the need to broaden South Africa’s export base amid shifting geopolitical dynamics.

A further priority is digital reform. Diko said the government has not moved far enough on digitalisation and that digital public infrastructure must be embedded within a growth strategy.

“We should be thinking about digital sovereignty,” she said. This includes:

• building domestic technological capability,
• developing South African large language models and
• defining a clear national position on global technology platforms.

Digital reform, she argued, must be directly linked to addressing poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Ultimately, she said, the ANC wants the president to outline a “concrete economic plan” rather than broad reform signalling.

On the government of national unity (GNU), Diko said the ANC is committed to making it work and regards it as stable and viable.

However, she criticised what she described as GNU partners who adopt an oppositional posture despite being in government, arguing this complicates coherence in both parliament and the executive. Nonetheless, she maintained the ANC remains committed to collaboration where common ground can be found.

DA’s Steenhuisen weighs in

Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen said GNU leaders met ahead of Sona, and were briefed in general terms though “without much specifics”. Speaking to Business Day, he said the DA’s influence on the speech predates that meeting, pointing to earlier cabinet engagements and the lekgotla, where ministers outlined departmental and macroeconomic priorities.

“The big thing is jobs and growth,” he said. While the economy has stabilised and unemployment has “gone down slightly”, he stressed that it is “not nearly enough”.

Steenhuisen called for accelerated reform in ports, rail and roads, arguing these remain binding constraints. “We have to march determinately towards looking at public-private partnerships in our ports and harbours,” he said, adding that government must “move out all of the things that are holding us back from growth”.

He maintained the 3% growth target by the end of the term remains achievable, provided reform momentum and fiscal discipline are sustained.

On employment policy, Steenhuisen called for a review of BEE. Policy, he argued, should be judged “not on its objectives, but on its outcomes”. He said current frameworks have failed to produce broad-based empowerment and have instead benefited a narrow elite.

He also demanded measurable governance benchmarks. “Set very clear timelines,” he said. “By this date we will have done that.” Sona, the budget and the MTBPS must provide concrete targets that allow the public to hold government accountable.

At municipal level, he called for ring-fencing water and electricity revenues to ensure reinvestment in core infrastructure.

On local government elections, Steenhuisen said that if the DA were to take control of Johannesburg, it would strengthen rather than weaken the GNU. He argued South Africa’s economic hub cannot continue under instability and failing service delivery. A well-run Johannesburg, he said, would be “an asset” to the GNU, ensuring that the country’s primary economic centre is competently managed and better positioned to drive growth.

On the GNU more broadly, he described it as entering “a relative period of stability”. While acknowledging that local elections will heighten political tensions, he said coalition governance and electoral contestation “are not unique” and can be managed.

Parties, he argued, must recognise that they are simultaneously governing partners and political competitors, and that this dual dynamic is inherent to multi-party government.

US relations key: Mulder

Also in the GNU, FF+ leader Dr Corné Mulder said the economy remains the single biggest issue facing South Africa and must dominate the Sona address. Growth, he argued, remains too weak to reverse unemployment, poverty and social distress.

“We need some serious growth,” Mulder said, warning against what he described as “more of the same”. He called for bold repositioning of South Africa in the international arena, with a “South Africa first” approach to trade and investment.

Mulder placed particular emphasis on relations with the US, arguing that a strengthened trade agreement with the world’s largest economy could unlock direct foreign investment and materially shift growth prospects. South Africa, he said, should not choose geopolitical sides but should prioritise its own national interest.

Business Day