ANC secretary general Ace Magashule has defended President Cyril Ramaphosa’s lofty ambitions, saying the president and government will implement the programmes laid out in the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

On Thursday, Ramaphosa addressed a joint sitting of Parliament and made a number of pronouncements that were seen by numerous opposition MPs and political analysts as being heavy on ambition but light on detail.

Speaking to News24 after the proceedings adjourned, Magashule said: “…what the president has said is not his dream, it’s the people’s dream, the nation’s dream which is going to be realised.”

He added that “our role as an organisation is to ensure that what the president has said is going to be implemented … so we are going to perform, we are going to realise the dream…”

SCROLL: Ramaphosa dreams big, but MPs scoff ‘nightmare’

Magashule said the details of how these dreams would become a reality, would be made clear in the weeks and months to come.

“Ministers come from lekgotlas, as well as deputy ministers as well as director generals, so we are expecting after the lekgotla they have actually made sure they have timelines. We, as the organisation, are going to monitor implementation of what the president has said and as I’ve said, it is very practical and realistic.”

The lofty ambitions bandied about by the president in the address included:

• Ending hunger in the country in the next 10 years.
• Halving violent crime in the next decade.
• Doubling international tourist arrivals to 21 million by 2030

Toward the end of the address, Ramaphosa said: “We want a South Africa that has prioritised its rail networks and is producing high-speed trains connecting our megacities and the remotest areas of our country.”

“I dream of a South Africa where the first entirely new city built in the democratic era rises, with skyscrapers, schools, universities, hospitals and factories.

“Has the time not arrived to build a new smart city founded on the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution?” the president asked rhetorically.

One DA MP could be heard shouting in response from their seat: “We can’t even get normal trains working.”

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