SONA debate: Ramaphosa set to respond to criticism in Parliament

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa will return to Parliament on Thursday to respond to the two-day State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate where his address was rejected by the opposition.

MPs from most parties took turns in criticising Ramaphosa, who centred his address around fictional character Tintswalo - a beneficiary of African National Congress (ANC) programmes since democracy.

While ANC MPs did come to Ramaphosa and the ANC's defence, others used the debate for electioneering purposes.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to respond to MPs who contributed to the debate when he takes to the podium on Thursday afternoon.

Ramaphosa will respond to MPs like Democratic Alliance (DA) whip Siviwe Gwarube, who said the president’s attempt to "sanitise" the lived reality of South Africans "fell flat" last week.

"His revisionist and dishonest fairytale is an insult to those who know the truth. They know the truth because they live it. They know what was told to them was a lie concocted by a bunch of speech writers – and not the daily nightmare that was touted as the New Dawn."

Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, meanwhile, defended the president and the ANC’s legacy.

"My Tintswalo moment came when the ANC rolled out electricity to rural villages and started rolling out programmes of clean running water," the minister said.

Ramaphosa is also likely to respond to issues around Israel and the Gaza conflict which was raised by the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP).