The State of the Nation Address (SONA) traditionally takes place in Parliament in February and is attended by the three arms of the state: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

The content of the address is the sole responsibility of the executive because it is the executive that has a mandate to run the country in accordance with the prescripts of the Constitution.

SONA is a political statement of the President that sets out a social contract that seeks to embrace the concerns and views of various constituencies that constitute the fabric of our nation. In that, it is a non-partisan address that maps a holistic pathway to the future. It is this contract, informed by a range of national priorities, which sets our country’s public discourse that urges the public to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue on various policy matters for the good of our civilisation. It is this social pact that also serves as a barometer to judge the performance of the state in the coming year.

For instance, SONA is closely watched by foreign investors for its assessment of our country’s gains or challenges. They use it to deduce whether there is any shift in our country’s economic policy and whether South Africa’s economic policies are still in harmony with its economic interests. As such, SONA often determines investors’ appetite for South African markets.

On the legislative front, Parliament determines its legislative priorities in the coming year on the basis of SONA. It also uses the prescripts of SONA as a law-making framework to advance our country’s developmental agenda as enshrined in the National Development Plan (NDP), and also as an oversight instrument to hold the Executive accountable.

To live up to this expectation, Parliament has ensured that this event becomes a public event. Part of its broader public participation process involves the use of various forms of communication, such as radio, television and social media, to advance this objective.

Of all communication platforms, radio has been identified as the most effective mass communication outlet that reaches the widest possible South African audience in all the 11 languages in all the nine provinces. As a result, the Parliamentary Communication Services (PCS) uses 18 South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) radio stations and 60 community radio stations as central platforms for information dissemination and calls for public participation in the build-up to SONA.

SONA brings together the three arms of State

SONA provides the President with an opportunity to speak to the nation on the general state of South Africa, to reflect on a wide range of political, economic and social matters within the domestic and global contexts, to account to the nation on the work of Government and to set out Government’s programme of action. Traditionally, the President makes key government announcements during this important joint sitting of Parliament.

It is a ceremonial joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, called specifically for the President to deliver his SONA and no other business may be considered on this day.

SONA usually takes place during February and is presided over by the Speaker and/or the Chairperson of the Council, by arrangement between them.

This practice of the President delivering a state of the nation address goes back to the pre-democratic era. One such address is that of the former president Mr F W de Klerk titled Address by the State President, Mr F W De Klerk, at the Opening of the Second Session of the Ninth Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town, 2 February 1990.

During this address, the SONA occasion was used as a platform for announcement of the release of the founding President of the democratic SA, Mr Nelson Mandela, and other anti-apartheid political prisoners, by the last apartheid President, Mr. FW De Klerk.

The session is referred to as the State of the Nation Address to distinguish it from the opening address. This usually occurs at the start of a term of Parliament. In practice, the terms SONA and opening of parliament are used interchangeably.