President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday outline his government’s bouquet of priorities and commitments to citizens.
This time last year, Ramaphosa took to the Cape Town City Hall stage to present his yearly instalment of promises. The 2025 state of the nation address (Sona) was particularly distinct because it was the first of the government of national unity, which saw 10 parties in parliament forming a coalition at national level.
Because Ramaphosa’s ANC dropped below the 50% majority needed to govern solely, this meant the Sona was no longer purely informed by his party’s manifesto but rather needed to accommodate the priorities of coalition partners including the DA, FF Plus, IFP, Patriotic Alliance and several others.
Africa Check took the liberty to assess what the president promised vs what was delivered and which commitments are still in progress:
Water agency
Given the water crisis, the first bold commitment made by the president last year was to “within the next year, complete the establishment of the national water resource infrastructure agency”.
Ramaphosa said ensuring a secure and reliable supply of water across the country is a priority, given that many people faced and continue to face regular water shortages due to failing infrastructure.
Africa Check referenced the creation of a national entity of this sort has been on the cards for a while and has been previously been listed as a priority in the department of water and sanitation’s annual performance plan for the year(s) 2023/24, with implementation steps staggered out over the next three years.
It remains to be seen what Ramaphosa has in store for South Africans this year and whether we will see a continuation of incomplete projects, an abandoning of those that have failed or a fresh surprise of new innovative strategies to take the country forward
The entity, which is solely responsible for maintaining and developing the country’s infrastructure, would have had to have established this agency by February this year, but this target has since been postponed to be completed by mid 2026.
This makes Ramaphosa’s promise a work in progress.
E-visas
One of the promises the president has kept has been on the home affairs front, where he pledged last year that government will launch the electronic travel authorisation system.
This, he said, would enable a secure, fully digital visa application process for visitors to South Africa.
The move was successfully launched by home affairs minister Leon Schreiber in September last year, and according to the department will stabilise from citizens of China, Indonesia, India and Mexico to expand to tourists from all countries who require visas to visit South Africa.
Action for children
The Africa Check organisation also probed the president’s commitment to “soon adopt the national strategy to accelerate action for children”.
Last year Ramaphosa said the strategy focused mainly on poverty reduction, child protection and malnutrition, adding it was driven by concerns for children’s well-being.
According to their research, though the president did not include timelines, it has been in development since October 2024 and was adopted by the cabinet in December.
HIV treatment
Ramaphosa also committed to launch a campaign to look for an additional 1.1-million people who are not yet on HIV treatment and reach a 95-95-95 target.
This means the aim is for 95% of people with HIV to know their status, for 95% of those people to be on treatment and for 95% of those on treatment to have achieved viral suppression, where the medications can reduce the presence of the virus in a person’s blood to be undetectable and not transmittable to others.
This commitment was kept, with the Close The Gap campaign launched in February last year reportedly bridging key numbers in the previous shortfall, placing South Africa’s statistics at 96-80-97, Africa Check revealed.
Sexual offences courts
Another promise made by Ramaphosa is to ensure another 16 sexual offences courts are established in the next financial year.
This target remains in progress. The aim of the specialised court system is to provide a victim centred approach and appropriate physical space, which has proven to lead to more cases finalised, better treatment of victims and higher conviction rates.
According to the organisation’s research, eight of the courts were established between October and December last year, with four more planned for the period of and March and June 2026.
Whistleblower protection
Ramaphosa also highlighted the plight of whistleblowers, promising last year to introduce the whistleblower protection bill in parliament during that financial year.
The verdict on this commitment is that it is in progress, with the justice department revealing the whistleblower bill, renamed the Protected Disclosures Bill, had been completed and is under legal evaluation.
Following the process, it is expected to be finalised in the January to March 2026 period and will be submitted to the cabinet and thereafter to parliament.
New promises?
It remains to be seen what Ramaphosa has in store for South Africans this year and whether we will see a continuation of incomplete projects, an abandoning of those that have failed or a fresh surprise of new innovative strategies to take the country forward.
The Sona will be delivered at the Cape Town City Hall, with all members of parliament and guests, including former presidents Jacob Zuma and Kgalema Motlanthe, in attendance.
After the address, parliament will host a two-day joint debate by members of both houses on February 17 and 18. The president’s reply to the debate, on February 19, will conclude this phase of the Sona programme.
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