Jasmine Uys, Alicedale
In the State of the Nation Address (Sona), many promises were made again, as always. Some were old promises, some new promises.
With the election just around the corner, we can expect even more promises, like an end to load shedding, but the president's words were hardly cold, and it was Stage 3 load shedding, and, hardly a minute later, Stage 4, followed by Stage 6. So how on earth are they going to manage to bring an end to load shedding?
They have been promising an end to load shedding for years already. Another promise is job creation, while the unemployment rate is higher than ever, and more and more people rely on social grants, while the cost of living just keeps on rising, and the taxpayers are getting less and less.
Then there is crime, corruption and poor service, especially at some hospitals and Sassa, where people must wait forever to be helped.
Many hospitals don't even have doctors and rely on nursing sisters. And if there is a doctor or two, they are overworked. I can't help but wonder if any government official will go to a day hospital to get treatment. Yes, it's very easy to make promises, but very hard to keep them.
Talk is cheap. Let’s see how many of the promises the president made he is going to keep.