Assembly, the Honourable GL Mahlangu-Nkabinde, Acting Chairperson of the
National Council of Provinces, Honourable P Hollander, and Deputy Speaker of
the National Assembly, Honourable NC Madlala-Routledge
29 January 2009
The President calls for the State of the Nation Address
As the Presiding Officers of the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa,
we would like to announce that the President of the Republic of South Africa,
His Excellency Mr Kgalema Motlanthe has, in terms of Sec 84 (d) of the
Constitution, âsummoned the National Assembly, the National Council of
Provinces or Parliament to an extraordinary sitting to conduct special
business.â The special business for this joint sitting of Parliament will be
the State of the Nation address.
The date for this yearâs State of the Nation Address (SONA) is 6 February
2009.
Theme of the State of the Nation Address
The occasion sees the President addressing the three arms of state (the
legislature, the executive and the judiciary). It is our role as Parliament to
ensure that his address reaches our nation as a whole. Consequently, much of
our efforts are focussed on public participation in the event itself. This
yearâs occasion will for the first time be beamed live on big public screens
throughout all nine provinces. The Presiding Officers will line up Members of
Parliament to be interviewed by the media on the day of SONA.
The theme for this yearâs SONA is âParliament entrenching people-centred
democracy in achieving development goals.â What this means, is that
Parliamentâs function of monitoring and evaluation over the executive sits at
the centre of our activities. We take our oversight functions very seriously.
For us this means that we have to be the enablers of public participation.
Hence programmes such as taking Parliament to the people, peopleâs assembly,
womenâs Parliament, and others which are related to the interface between
Parliament as legislature and the executive.
It is hoped that this theme will capture the expectations that South
Africans have in government as a whole in meeting the many demands of service
delivery.
To that effect, the SONA will only cover the tenure of entire third
Parliament, from 2004 to 2009.
Programme of the day
As usual the day is rich with ceremonial splendour. On arrival, the
President will be received by the Presiding Officers at Slave Lodge. The
President will be accompanied by the POs as they walk the red carpet, meeting
people and watching cultural performances. At the steps of the National
Assembly the President will take the gun salute from the military.
Lining the red carpet will be eminent South Africans, from all nine
provinces, a civil guard of honour, drawn from civil society development
organisations, and a junior guard of honour, drawn from schools in the Western
Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
The President will then address Parliament from 11am until noon when the
house will be adjourned. Members of Parliament (MPs) and guests will then
proceed to a luncheon.
Presiding officersâ interaction with the media
There will be a number of opportunities whereby POs from Parliament will be
interacting with the media on the day through interviews and so forth. Full
details will be provided in due course.
Enquiries:
Lebogang Nawa
Cell: 082 786 7326
E-mail: lnawa@parliament.gov.za
Issued by: Parliament of South Africa
29 January 2009
Source: Parliament of South Africa (http://www.parliament.gov.za/)
