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#SONA2019: More rhetoric with no decisive plans, says Maimane

───   09:49 Fri, 21 Jun 2019

#SONA2019: More rhetoric with no decisive plans, says Maimane | News Article

President Cyril Ramaphosa's state of the nation address was nothing but a re-affirmation of what is in the country's Constitution and without bold plans, said Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimane.


"He made statements about a dream while South Africans are living in a nightmare... a complete wish list of things he said before with more rhetoric and no substance," Maimane said. 

"I felt that the president didn't put forward bold plans or reforms, he simply affirmed things that are already in the Constitution... of course we want education to work. 

"But is he going to stand up to unions such as Sadtu and his own party that wants to nationalise the Reserve Bank... these are the questions he left South Africans wondering about. 

"For many South Africans at home, they do not see an immediate plan for their future," Maimane said.

However, GOOD party leader Patricia De Lille agreed with Ramaphosa that a new 'smart city' would be a successful venture. De Lille was appointed Minister of Public Works after the 8 May general elections. De Lille said she had already mulled about a new city when she was mayor of Cape Town.

"I am very excited about it... we failed to integrate our cities. You can build a new city to deal with apartheid spatial planning and bring spatial justice. The emphasis of the president is on partnerships... the government cannot do this alone. 

"We need public and private partnerships and civil society to conceive this new idea... we must just agree on where to build this new city... it is exciting, it (is) happening all over the world," she said.

Ramaphosa said it was time South Africa built a new 'smart city' with bullet trains and smart ways of doing things to coincide with the fourth industrial revolution.


African News Agency (ANA)

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