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Daily Maverick writes in an opinion piece that anyone wondering if President Cyril Ramaphosa would attempt to placate the Trump administration got their answer at Thursday night’s State of the Nation Address (Sona).
In the preceding fortnight, Pretoria had suddenly found itself squarely in the sights of the Trump administration, singled out for special threats and aggression. Ramaphosa went into Thursday’s Sona with a lot on his plate and plenty of eyes on him. He didn’t mention tensions with Rwanda, and the situation in DRC received relatively short shrift in his speech. But, Ramaphosa told the nation that the world was changing fast. In what must be read as referring to recent events in Washington, the President said: “We are witnessing the rise of nationalism and protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause”. He continued: “We will not be bullied.” South Africans, Ramaphosa said, stand for “peace and justice, for equality and solidarity. We stand for non-racialism and democracy, for tolerance and compassion. We stand for equal rights for women, for persons with disability and for members of the LGBTQI+ community. We stand for our shared humanity, not for the survival of the fittest.” Although his target was not specified, it was a repudiation of everything the Trump administration has shown the world thus far. While every Sona contains elements of a pie in the sky wish list; the 2025 Sona was no different. Daily Maverick writes: “No doubt SA will continue to fall short in hundreds of different ways of the lofty vision Ramaphosa sketched of what SA holds dear as a nation. But in these strange and troubled times, to hear a world leader reinforce the value of ‘“empathy and compassion’ felt not just refreshing but urgently necessary. If only South Africa could now live up to that domestically.”
- Read the full original of the opinion piece in the above regard by Rebecca Davis at Daily Maverick
- Read too, 'We stand for our shared humanity': Ramaphosa's SONA contrasts SA's values with Trump's politics, at News24 (subscription or trial registration required)
- En ook, Staatsrede 2025: Samewerking vir ʼn sterker Suid-Afrika, by Maroela Media
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page