MANDLA NYAQELA spoke to people in Dobsonville to find out if they are looking forward to Thursday’s State of The Nation Address.Â
Boyzy Mkwayi, 36, pharmacy assistant
I am not interested in the State of the Nation Address and I’m not going to be wasting my time watching that nonsense. I’m not sure if our president writes his own speeches or someone does on his behalf. I wonder – does he even prepare prior to ascending the podium and address us as the nation? I always struggle to understand. Personally, I think this is the one president who does not take our country seriously since the democratic dispensation. He just doesn’t care.
We are going to hear the same lies about how they have been combating corruption and the pseudo good story the ANC government is always telling. We are sitting with the worst education system that is producing unemployable young people, on top of the ever-rising unemployment rate of this country, wrongful allocation of housing, and the worst health system run by a minister who has a medical aid at his disposal. The housing and land issues break my heart… The slums and homelessness in this country are getting worse by day. Fifty percent of the RDP houses in this country are occupied by foreigners. That will never make sense to me.
Ntombifikile Maduna, 21, unemployed
President Jacob Zuma is full of lies. I am interested in what [he] is going to be talking about at the State of the Nation Address, because I would like to hear more of his lies. He has been lying about a whole lot of things. He lied about the Nkandla scandal and now he wants to pay; he also lied about the creation of jobs and we did not even see half of the number of jobs he promised the last time.
I am more interested in the education of our country. I have not been able to go to school last year because of the lack of funds and I have not been able to secure a bursary because of the corruptive processes that are happening in the NSFAS. I would like to hear how he plans to turn that around.
Well, some of the people who were more fortunate than I am have been able to go to school and for that, I guess Zuma’s government is trying. I wish more can be invested in the education of our country and the tertiary institutions in the country.
George Makhunga, 26
I am not interested in the State of the Nation address. I have never been interested before; I don’t see why I should be interested now. My feelings about our government are fifty-fifty – on the one side we have seen people getting houses and getting sheltered; kids don’t go to class hungry and they also get lunch at school. I think that’s good. However, people in the township still go to sleep hungry and wake up in the morning not knowing what they are going to eat because of poverty as a result of unemployment.
While some are getting houses, others remain homeless and without proper shelter as a result of corruption within the department of housing… Foreigners get houses that are supposed to be occupied by South Africans. How is he going to address that?
Sivuyile Lingela 63, pensioner
The Bible says that we must always pray for our government and I believe that everything that our government is doing is controlled by God. Our government would not be able to do anything if it was not for our God and His guidance. I am interested and happy with all that our government is doing. The State of the Nation Address will be the reassurance that our government will continue taking care of our country. It is not easy running a country, so I do not expect our governor to be perfect. All our government needs to do is to continue seeking counsel from our God and all will be well in time. This is the government we prayed for and I am happy with it.
Will you be watching the State of the Nation address on Thursday? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments!
