'Government should resign in shame' - Steenhuisen says ahead of SONA

• The DA expects the President to overplay government's Covid-19 response during his State of the Nation Address (SONA).
• Ahead of SONA, DA leader John Steenhuisen says the ANC-led government should resign to prevent any further damage to the country.
• Steenhuisen delivered his own 'True State of the Nation Address' ahead of Ramaphosa's speech on Thursday.

The DA says President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation (SONA) address will underplay the country's economic crisis and overplay government's Covid-19 response.

The official opposition also expects Ramaphosa to "outright lie" about the country's vaccine plan.

On Monday, DA leader John Steenhuisen delivered a speech presented as the "True State of the Nation Address" ahead of Ramaphosa’s address on Thursday evening.

"The hard truth is that we are a nation in a crisis on three fronts. Firstly, we're in a Covid-19 crisis, from which the only way out is the immediate rollout of a massive vaccination programme. Secondly, we're in an economic crisis, and here the only way out is a raft of urgent and bold economic reforms. And thirdly, we're in a crisis of democracy, as the recent shocking testimony at the Zondo commission has revealed," Steenhuisen said.

Vaccines

Steenhuisen said there is evidence that South Africa would not have enough vaccine doses for the population.

"While we're still waiting for a full, detailed vaccination plan from the president, we do know that we won't have nearly enough vaccines in time to prevent a third and possibly a fourth wave of the virus from running through our country. This leaves the prospect of further lockdowns looming over our already shattered economy. That will most certainly bring on a sovereign debt crisis, along with another wave of job losses, and extraordinary human suffering and deprivation," he said.

The official opposition leader also claimed Ramaphosa's has not been honest when sharing details of vaccines.

"We already knew this from statements made by the vaccine suppliers themselves, but this was confirmed in a letter from the Department of Health to Treasury in which it requested a deviation from normal procurement procedures in order to acquire vaccines. That letter was only sent on 7 January this year. When the President spoke in his televised address about the arrival of the various different vaccines, he deliberately kept the details vague by simply stating when delivery of each vaccine would commence," Steenhuisen said.

Resign

He believes the only way to prevent further damage to the country is for the ANC government to, "... resign in shame".

"Using taxpayer funds to secretly pay for propaganda news reporting, to sway the judiciary, to destabilise the government of the opposition and to carry on enriching the disgraced former president is a scandal so large that for any government other than the ANC it would have spelled the end. Even the National Party government of BJ Vorster back in the 1970s was forced into shameful resignations when they were exposed for having run an almost identical state-funded propaganda programme," Steenhuisen said.

Cadre deployment

Steenhuisen said the ANC's cadre deployment makes no attempt to disguise its objectives.

"It states upfront that the aim is to extend ANC control over all levers of power in the state. This includes the civil service, all state-owned entities The ineffective are rewarding themselves, the incompetent are assessing themselves and the corrupt are policing themselves," he said.

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