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When President Cyril Rampahosa delivers the State of the Nation address this week, he cannot afford to bask in the green shoots of the economy that emerged last year. Nor is it his job to assuage riled-up MAGA-related emotions. Here are four big things the GOOD Party would like the President to address.

Education

Education is a key facilitator of human and societal development. Basic education reform, however, is being held hostage by anti-transformation forces and needs to be unstuck. The Matric pass rate is not a measure of systemic progress. For instance, while this year’s pass rate was good, less well publicised was the fact that children from no-fee schools performed relatively worse than those at fee-paying schools. This maintains the historic status quo in which children of colour received inferior education. In February, we see the knock-on consequences that poor basic education for poor people has on higher education. Students suffer the indignity of living on the streets with their luggage, while employer-funded SETAs underperform in their task to channel them to alternative forms of higher learning.

Economic Growth, Human Rights and National Security

Until the State meets its Constitutional obligations to provide for the basic needs of the poor through a proper Basic Income Grant, South Africa remains vulnerable to insurrection. The new official food poverty line for 2026 is R855 a month. That’s what’s needed to cover an adult’s basic nutrition needs, with nothing on the side for a bus ticket, washing powder or a headache tablet. In that context, the R370 a month SRD Grant that nine million jobless adults receive is hugely insufficient. We are in danger of becoming a nation of zombies ripe for manipulation by populist politicians. To meet its obligations, the State cannot accept the current economic growth trajectory. The Growth and Inclusion Strategy of the GNU need clear deliverables for members of the executive, targeting a minimum 5% annual economic growth rate we need.

Criminal Justice

There are two large spokes in the criminal justice system’s wheel that the President would do well to address: Political interference in prosecutorial decision-making, and a well-funded “Stalingrad” legal defence strategy. Together, they have derailed the State’s ability to dispense justice. While the Khampepe Commission should help with the former, it can’t do much if it is terminally bogged down by the latter. The GOOD Party would like to hear the President announce the appointment of a high-level panel of experts to develop constitutionally sound strategies to counter interminable delays in the execution of justice. The rights of accused persons to fair process must be separated from the rights of recalcitrant litigants with deep pockets – whose rights cannot outweigh the rights of the rest of the country to justice.

Housing  

The housing crisis is a deepening national disaster. A decent home is more than just shelter from the rain; it also provides safety, dignity, comfort, cohesiveness, and an environment that fosters human development. The state’s approach to providing subsidised housing is no longer fit for purpose, as it is unable to deliver at the necessary scale. Changing the approach to one in which housing is regarded as public and municipal infrastructure, funded using long-term borrowing to address scale and pace, and properly maintained, is the only viable solution. The feasibility of rent-to-own schemes must be considered to enable access to the broader property market.

Issued by Unite for Change Leadership Council Member & GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron