His Excellency the President
Honourable Speaker and Honourable Chairperson
Honourable Members
Fellow South Africans

I speak today as the Minister of CoGTA; a Minister in the Government of National Unity to which I and the IFP have pledged our full commitment. I speak also as the leader of the Party with long-standing values and principles, that will not be compromised, for they offer South Africa what our country, our economy and our people need: integrity, stability and hope.

I have said that the IFP entered the GNU with the aim of rebuilding South Africa. And I am proud of the IFP’s performance within the Government of National Unity. The successes outlined by the President during SONA stand as a testimony to the strength of a multi-party democracy in which diverse voices are truly represented. More specifically, they point to intentional, sustained, sacrificial, hard work to keep the GNU stable. We do this for the sake of furthering our initial gains.

Yes, our economy is finally growing. But it needs to grow faster. It needs to outpace the growing inequality in our society, the mounting social needs, and the burgeoning unemployment that plagues us. 

South Africa has a potential workforce that is staggering in its sheer size. Indeed, the productive potential in our country is unique from a global perspective – but the potential to fail our people, to fail our youth, and to fail to achieve what we are capable of, is a real and present danger.

The social grant system is a crucial safety net for the vulnerable. But in fact it demands a fundamental redesign to genuinely assist those in need. Our parallel priority must be the empowerment of our citizens towards self-help and self-reliance. In the long-term, this will create the fertile ground in which our economy may flourish: when everyone can stake a claim in South Africa’s success, and everyone is able to make their contribution.

The women of 1956 showed extraordinary solidarity and courage in the face of injustice. Tragically, our women of 2026 face the daily reality of gender-based violence, femicide and crime. The youth of 1976 displayed a compelling unity of purpose. Unfortunately, the youth of 2026 face unemployment and the enduring economic inaccessibility of higher education. 

Our women and youth do not stand alone. These crises are ours, collectively. And collective action across all government spheres is required to solve these challenges.

The vast dormant resource of unemployed graduates must be awakened through opportunity, not only through the Presidential Stimulus Fund but also through the creation of a multitude of development and employment programs across all spheres of government, and massive mobilisation of the private sector. 

As Minister of CoGTA, I must emphasise the President’s words on the centrality of fixing the many dysfunctional municipalities: a task which is being tackled through the review of both the White Paper on Local Government and the municipal funding model. 

The White Paper on Local Government Review, which will be completed by 31 March 2026, will be a game-changer for our local governance system. Deployment of officials will have to be on the basis of competency and professionalism, not political deployment. 

The White Paper on Local Government Review will place municipal governance on a sound footing and facilitate efficient cooperative governance. We will harness the potential within the institution of traditional and KhoiSan leadership, creating genuine governance partnerships with Traditional and Khoisan Leaders. 

Your Excellency; the White Paper on Local Government Review will yield great and progressive change if, come the Local Government Elections, political parties will deploy competent political leaders as mayors, deputy mayors, speakers and exco members, who will drive and become the agents of change and service delivery. 

The IFP commends the establishment of the National Water Crisis Committee, as a temporary measure to fix a much wider range of malaise that has accumulated over decades. An emergency solution is necessary, and we believe that this Committee, as a temporary measure, will bring great relief. 

But the long-term solution is building capacity in municipalities, ensuring that competent leadership in municipalities do maintenance timeously on an ongoing basis, build more reservoirs, and deal with a multitude of water losses as a result of infrastructure that is failing to perform because it was never attended to timeously. 

Hon. President; there is another leak that we must fix, and that is the leak of economic and social resources through unchecked illegal migration. The IFP classifies the pervasive presence of undocumented foreign nationals as a threat to State security. 

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While we support migration through legal, regulated channels, we stand firm against uncontrolled, illegal migration. A package of immediate law reforms is necessary to preserve jobs for South Africans, reserve the spaza shop industry for locals, and stop the abuse of our healthcare, housing and other sectors by those who are in our country illegally.

We applaud the deployment of the SANDF to crime-ridden communities and communities besieged by gang-violence. Let us learn from this, and deploy the SANDF to curb illegal border crossings. That is acting decisively and responding appropriately. It is necessary. It is urgent. It cannot wait. 

The IFP has sounded such warnings before. History bears out the importance of listening. 

Fellow citizens; the IFP is here to bring stability. It is what investors needs, and what our people need. It is what the IFP brings to the GNU and what we offer to South Africa at the local level, as much as at the national and provincial level. 

If South Africa is to gather the strength to create change, our nation needs stability. Real, lasting change will not come from the disruptors. It will come from a groundswell of common purpose. The ability to create that, is what the IFP brings to the table.