Mayor Vumile Lwana’s state of the municipality address in Alicedale on Friday concluded a cycle of addresses, beginning with President Jacob Zuma's 10 February State of the Nation and followed by the State of the Province, in Bhisho, a week later.
Mayor Vumile Lwana’s state of the municipality address in Alicedale on Friday concluded a cycle of addresses, beginning with President Jacob Zuma's 10 February State of the Nation and followed by the State of the Province, in Bhisho, a week later.
There are of course, a slew of other “state of” addresses in other provinces, but let us focus on those directly relevant to Makana residents. These addresses, usually accompanied by abundant pomp and ceremony, sought to describe performances of the past year as successes and then made glowing promises about what voters could expect in the coming 12 months.
All three addresses dealt with a wide range of issues – but in the State of the Nation address, President Jacob Zuma highlighted job creation as a priority. In the State of the Province, Premier Noxolo Kiviet spoke extensively about scraping the provincial educational system off the bottom of the barrel, while in the State of the Municipality address last week, delivered in a rural community, Mayor Vumile Lwana unsurprisingly focused on rural issues.
According to these speeches, residents can look forward to a wonderful year when jobs will become more plentiful, the education department will re-employ temporary teachers and reinstitute feeding and transport schemes, while Makana Municipality will ensure that infrastructure in rural communities is upgraded and the entire municipal water reticulation system will be efficiently managed by the Amatola Water Board.
Do these promises sound too good to be true? Are they simply election promises? After all, elections are just around the corner (we are not sure which corner because, at the time of writing, no date has been set). It would be wonderful if, at next year’s “state of” addresses, the relevant leaders could honestly say that they had achieved all they set out to do in this year’s speeches.
If their intentions are good and they apply the necessary hard work to achieve their own goals, we will be happy to join the masses in applauding our leaders for their amazing determination.
But, somehow, journalism always brings out the cynic in one who has heard it all before.
