Trade union Uasa has come out guns blazing following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State Of The Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday evening.
In a highly-critical reaction to the address, the union said South Africans had heard it all before.
“After yet another disappointing, feel-so-good, no-action-plan State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, we are left with the feeling that we have heard it all before,” said Uasa spokesperson Abigail Moyo.
South Africans also knew the real state of the nation.
“We live it daily – load shedding, water outages, poverty, a crumbling infrastructure, corruption [and] empty promises," Moyo said.
"What we need are jobs and a functioning economy, not talk about hope and resilience. In the past, we might have said, 'Our hope is in you, Mr President', but unfortunately we are way beyond that point.
"We demand the dignity of South Africans – in despair due to the maladministration and failures of your officials on all government levels – be restored. We are not sure we can deduce such a result from what we heard in this year’s Sona.“
Uasa divisional manager Franz Stehring said government needed to provide companies with the resources to support retraining of workers for future jobs.
"In the case of South Africa, a just transition should be discussed in the National Economic Development and Labour Council, and resources for re-skilling can be drawn from the Sector Education and Training Authorities," he said.
The union also offered comment on various aspects of Ramaphosa’s address:
The energy crisis
Moyo said: “Now we face yet another waste of taxpayers’ money as Ramaphosa make promises of government assisting Eskom in securing additional funding for diesel. Eskom has been helped numerous times to no avail. Yet, we are going down that road again, with no guarantee that these 'solutions' will be implemented decisively, let alone solve anything.
“Declaring a national disaster to tackle the energy crisis is merely another ploy to loot taxpayers’ funds and exercise undue control over citizens’ lives. A minister of electricity in the presidency will bring nothing that Eskom and other energy specialists have not yet suggested,” Moyo further lamented.
Transitioning to low-carbon emissions:
Just transitioning to low carbon emissions at a pace the country can afford was a step in the right direction, the union stated.
A just energy transition plan of R1.5 trillion was also to be welcomed. Done right, it could open up new investments, new industrialisation and create new jobs.
Youth unemployment:
Uasa noted the Employment Tax Incentive, which has been expanded to encourage businesses to hire more young people. The R1.4 billion financing to assist over 90 000 job-creating entrepreneurs was good news. Uasa called on those leaders dealing with the funding process to ensure that deserving candidates were chosen and the looting of funds prevented.
Upskilling:
Allocating R800 million to the National Skills Fund to develop skills in the digital and technology sector by linking payment for training to employment outcomes would benefit young people working in scarce skills sectors.
SAPS:
Recruiting 10 000 personnel to combat the high crime levels was a welcome decision. Hopefully, this would also help to combat gender-based violence and femicide, which had women and children living in fear.
Temporary job creation:
Employing 50 000 participants in the Social Employment Fund and 10 000 unemployed young people to digitise more than 340 million paper-based civic records was a temporary solution to South Africa’s massive unemployment crisis. What was needed were sustainable and practical solutions to job creation.
Grants:
Using 60% of the government budget to offer various forms of support to the jobless would not give them back their dignity. Those resources should be utilised for job creation so that the 7.8 million people depending on the Distress Grant could have proper jobs and income. It was becoming an unbearable burden on the working class to carry such a vast population.
SOEs:
Not enough was being done to prevent corruption and looting of funds, or to enable SOEs to provide the basic services they are mandated to deliver. Although 187 accused persons in 32 state capture and corruption cases had been taken to court, none had been arrested or found guilty. Instead, the disgraceful looting continued unabated, while politicians protected each other and benefited from it.
Dysfunctional municipalities:
Due to poor governance, and ineffective and corrupt financial and administrative management, municipalities could only offer collapsing infrastructure and poor or no service delivery. How could South Africa improve without the basic services its citizens paid for?
Reliable water supply and efficient transport and road infrastructure systems were crucial in any economy.
Tragically, South Africa was running on despair, as almost everything the state managed was in ruins. The union could only hope the significant infrastructure projects by the Department of Water and Sanitation would go ahead as planned.
Water outages were as debilitating to private citizens and businesses as electricity blackouts.
“With the minister of finance set to table the National Budget later this month, we can only hope for realistic and constructive plans for a better South Africa,” Moyo said.
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