{"id":49928,"date":"2026-02-14T13:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=49928"},"modified":"2026-02-14T13:51:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T13:51:34","slug":"president-ramaphosa-tells-a-good-story-while-the-country-collapses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/14\/president-ramaphosa-tells-a-good-story-while-the-country-collapses\/","title":{"rendered":"President Ramaphosa tells a good story while the country collapses \u2013 Newsday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Freedom Front Plus leader, Dr. Corn\u00e9 Mulder, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, like his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, tries to tell a good story while the country collapses.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa delivered his latest State of the Nation Address to a Joint Sitting of the two Houses of Parliament on Thursday, 12 February 2026.<\/p>\n<p>His speech promoted a strategic vision for South Africa, framing the current era as a pivotal turning point toward national prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>He provided plans to revitalise South Africa\u2019s economy, create jobs, and modernise essential infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>Ramaphosa also announced interventions to combat organised crime and corruption alongside urgent reforms to address the critical water and energy crises.<\/p>\n<p>He further said the government will enhance education, healthcare, and social protection to ensure inclusive growth for all citizens.<\/p>\n<p>This speech aligned with Ramaphosa\u2019s previous State of the Nation Addresses, which painted a rosy picture for South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Mulder was not impressed, saying Ramaphosa borrowed a page from former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s 2014 State of the Nation Address.<\/p>\n<p>He said wherever Ramaphosa\u2019s party, the ANC, governs, including councils, provinces and metros, the reality tells a bad story.<\/p>\n<p>He cited the water crisis in Johannesburg, South Africa\u2019s richest city, where thousands of households do not have water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter years of government intervention in failed municipalities brought about no improvement, the President\u2019s remarks on this matter lack conviction,\u201d Mulder said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt merely demonstrates how out of touch Ramaphosa is with reality. The truth is that South Africa\u2019s economy and society are in deep crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mulder said South Africa\u2019s economy had ground to a halt a long time ago, and growth is far below the 3% to 5% needed to combat unemployment.<\/p>\n<p>He attributed this to harmful policies such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), which drives away investors and undermines job creation.<\/p>\n<p>Unemployment has climbed to record-high levels, with an official figure of 31.9% in the third quarter of 2025, which is expected to rise to 32% in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Youth unemployment stands at 44%, leaving millions of young people without hope for a better future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis crisis is exacerbated by an unbridled influx of illegal immigrants across the country\u2019s porous borders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>More and more municipalities are collapsing, with more than 250 facing serious debt problems.<\/p>\n<p>Eskom debt already exceeds R100 billion, service delivery is grinding to a halt, while residents suffer the consequences of failing infrastructure and corruption.<\/p>\n<p>On the international front, South Africa\u2019s relations with the United States reached an all-time low.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration boycotted the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg and did not invite South Africa to the 2026 Summit.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, South Africa is openly hostile towards Israel, one of America\u2019s largest allies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe widespread incidence of foot-and-mouth disease illustrates the government\u2019s utter ineptitude,\u201d Mulder said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt failed to contain the initial outbreak, and the epidemic has developed into one of the biggest agricultural crises in the country\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Mulder said the Freedom Front Plus would have liked to hear that South Africa will reposition itself in a rapidly changing geopolitical world.<\/p>\n<p>It also wants urgent, tangible steps against foot-and-mouth disease and to eradicate corruption within the police force.<\/p>\n<p>Mulder added that the government must show that it is willing to move away from Black Economic Empowerment (BEE).<\/p>\n<p>However, none of these expectations were met.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe President\u2019s evocation of struggle symbolism to open his speech served as the prelude to yet another attempt to gloss over the ANC\u2019s failures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"text-center border p-3 bg-light mt-4 rounded\">You have read 1 out of 5 free articles. Log in or register for unlimited access.<\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- Share Data Setup for JavaScript --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#President #Ramaphosa #tells #good #story #country #collapses #Newsday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Freedom Front Plus leader, Dr. Corn\u00e9 Mulder, said President Cyril Ramaphosa, like his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, tries to tell a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49930,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49928\/revisions\/49930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}