South Africa: Jesuits respond to President's State of the Nation Address

President Ramaphosa Wiki Image

Source: Jesuit Institute South Africa

The Jesuit Institute South Africa have issued this statement today in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address 2025:

The Institute would like to congratulate the State President on last night's State of the Nation Address for 2025. The speech delivered many encouraging signals that are closely aligned with the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. These were discernible in the way the president addressed concerns in the domestic and international arenas.

Locally, the speech reiterated South Africa's grave concern for the poorest of our society, who are most vulnerable to the failure of basic services like the provision of clean water, electricity, affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, waste management, road and rail infrastructure, etc. The president repeatedly emphasised that the capable state meets people where they live and work and should provide a one-stop location where people might receive the required assistance. The introduction of artificial intelligence and a national electronic identification system will go some way to make services accessible.

No amount of technical wizardry can substitute for competent, compassionate, caring civil servants who meet our citizens at their point of need. Thus, local government needs to be upskilled and guaranteed the resources to fulfil its mandates. The proposed review of local government structures may make service delivery more efficient and people-friendly.

The Institute is pleased to note the president's commitment to strengthening law and order to ensure the safety and security of all residents of the country. This includes removing illegal guns from our society, deploying more competent police, eliminating corruption at every level, protecting whistleblowers, and taking positive steps to rid South Africa of the scourge of gender-based violence.

The Institute noted the president's commitment to South Africa's just green transition at a pace and scale that we can afford. This is a global concern since our country remains one of the world's largest emitters of climate-disrupting greenhouse gases. Let us not delay consigning fossil fuels to the waste bin of history.

On the international scene, we were encouraged by the president's continued commitment to multilateral institutions like the United Nations, African Union, Non-aligned Movement, BRICS, etc., and their respective principles. We laud the country's engagement in collaborative efforts toward a just peace in Ukraine, Palestine-Israel, Eastern DRC, and other scenes of international law violations. We support the president's ambition to reform the United Nations Security Council to make it more representative of the world's population.

In addition to the many praiseworthy points made by our president, some challenges remain.

Firstly, how will we pay for all of the ambitious plans? Without underestimating the enormous cost of raising the living standards and dignity of all our people, this will demand significant funding. It requires a sustainable source of funds. We need to ensure that whatever local and international funding we source, our debt-to-GDP ratio should remain as low as possible and, if possible, be reduced to avoid crippling debt-service fees. We encourage the president to continue focusing on strong fiscal discipline and creating a positive investment environment.

In this connection, The Institute was disappointed that the president missed an opportunity to re-emphasise the Constitution's guarantee of the right to own property and not to have it arbitrarily expropriated. Addressing this issue could have allayed many fears. In the Catholic Social Tradition, the ownership of property is not absolute. It is to be used for personal prosperity, while at the same time, it is a common resource for the good of all citizens. The Institute calls on the president to strike the correct balance between protecting personal property and the national interest.

In addition, The Institute is aware of prevailing lawlessness in the mining industry - both at the artisanal scale and in large industrialised activities. We welcome the president's intention to address the reform of mining rights. However, he did not mention the real challenge posed to South Africa by illegal mining and the failure of formal mining companies to rehabilitate land when they cease operations. Some people resort to hazardous informal mining out of desperation. An honest analysis would have gone a long way to highlight the economic challenges of South Africa and her immediate neighbours. Our wealth in critical minerals should not be the occasion for a second capitalist-imperialist capturing of the economy.

We value the emphases the president placed on working towards a common cause, both locally and internationally, and the importance of the existence and principles of the United Nations. Whilst calling for the strengthening and reform of the UN and the emphasis on multilateral cooperation, he did not specifically mention Russia's illegal invasion of Ukrainian territory and Russia's obligation to adhere to international law to resolve disputes peacefully. The president mentioned the opportunity that his G20 presidency would allow SA to exercise influence to achieve positive goals for the common good. We call on him to use his influence on Russia to end its conflict with Ukraine. The Institute would value a congruency between an uncompromising stance towards Israel and a similar stance towards Russia.

The government is providing the destitute and unemployed with necessary social support. The president lauded that 28 million people are receiving this social support. The Institute agrees in principle with social grants but maintains that this scale of dependency on the state is excessive. The state's role is to create an environment enabling people to thrive without direct handouts from the national fiscus. This aligns with the twin principles of Catholic Social Teaching, of subsidiarity and respect for human dignity, which encourages self-reliance and using our gifts to support our families.

The president ended his address by challenging us all to join the scrum rather than shouting from the sidelines. We need to work together to realise a shared national vision. Inspired by the Catholic social principle of participation, The Institute recommits itself to working towards this shared goal of a prosperous, ethical South Africa. We need to turn our fine words into reality.