Live stream SONA 2021: When will Ramaphosa begin his address?

Thursday 11 February 2021 is a big day for South Africa, mainly because President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver his annual State of the Nation Address (SONA). During his SONA, Ramaphosa has two jobs — set out government’s priorities for the coming years and highlight the achievements and challenges of the previous year.

Seems fair enough but the real challenge is executing the plans rather than simply discussing them which many South Africans and politicians have pointed out. Eskom’s load shedding, for instance, has been a recurring issue even though Ramaphosa swore it would be a thing of the past. 

Apart from rolling blackouts, we can’t forget COVID-19 — an unprecedented pandemic that has thrown everyone a curveball, even government. How Ramaphosa plans to navigate a mass vaccine rollout amid a possible third wave is what many of us want to know.  

So while some believe Ramaphosa’s SONA 2021 will be more talk and less action, others have hope that pertinent issues will be raised and dealt with accordingly in the name of positive change. Grab the popcorn in the meantime Mzansi, let’s see what the president has in store for us — the good, the bad and the ugly.

WHAT TIME WILL THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH START? 

Ramaphosa’s SONA 2021 speech is set to kick off at 19:00. In strict adherence to the National State of Disaster regulations, this year’s SONA will take the form of a hybrid joint sitting, with no more than 50 Members of Parliament, representatives from the Judiciary and the Executive in the physical chamber. The rest of this category will connect virtually.

READ: SONA 2021 during COVID: How much will the event cost?

After the 19:00 address, the two Houses will again converge jointly on a hybrid platform to debate the address over two days — 16 and 17 February. According to Parliament’s presiding officers, Ramaphosa will then reply to the debate on 18 February.

WATCH RAMAPHOSA DELIVER THE SONA 2021 

[The Live Stream will appear here around 19:00 on Thursday 11 February 2021, depending on what time the feed is made available]

SONA 2021: WHAT POLITICIANS EXPECT

The South African reached out to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) for their SONA 2021 expectations. While the EFF did not respond, the other two political parties are expecting big things from the president. 

Three expectations from the DA: 

1. The urgent and large-scale acquisition and rollout of vaccines; 
2. The announcement of large scale economic reforms to stabilize debt and reject regressive ANC policies such as the nationalization of the reserve bank, National Health Insurance in its current form and asset prescription; and 
3. Ensuring the protection of democracy through pursuing accountability for all found to have broken the law through the Zondo Commission. 

Three expectations from the FF Plus: 

1. Whether there will be local government elections this year, whether the ANC supports an election this year and whether they will come forward with an amendment to the constitution to postpone the local government elections; 
2. Clarity and details on the rollout programme of the vaccine in South Africa; and 
3. Clarity on what he is going to do to ensure that we restore the economy and create jobs.