South Africa: Post the State of the Nation Address

South Africans must stand together in multitudes to hold politicians accountable for disrespecting our democratic institutions before the whole world.

Our freedom was won through the collective efforts of millions of in our country. We need to stand together in our multitudes, even now, to safeguard our democracy, says Brand SA. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G)

COMMENT

Many of us would have eagerly awaited President Zumas State of the Nation Address last Thursday 12 February. We may have had different reasons although we would have wanted to hear the President pronounce on the progress made in South Africa and the way forward for the next year.

The evening may have concluded differently for many of us.

What the evening showed is that undoubtedly freedom of speech and expression is alive and robust and that our democracy is vibrant and well entrenched. It also shows that citizens are aware of their rights and are able to express them.

What should concern us though is that Parliament, which is one of the principle institutions mandated to safeguard our democracy, has in the expression of these rights, become a terrain of struggle that sees South Africans on both sides of the debate on our freedom of expression.

Political parties are elected by the people of our country to represent our interests in Parliament. We must ask whether this is being achieved as we deliberate on the work of Parliament.

I am confident that work that impacts positively on the lives of citizens of our country is being done at Parliament, but what should concern us is that we hear less of the work being done and more about the issues between the personalities doing the work. The expression of these issues between personalities is increasingly overshadowing the work of this principal institution of our democracy. Some of this is impacting negatively on the reputation of our country and our institutions.

Can we really serve the will of the people by bringing one of the principle institutions of our democracy into disrepute?

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South Africa: Post the State of the Nation Address