This was President Cyril Ramaphosa's third state of the nation address (Sona) in just 16 months, but for investors, sadly, it may have mattered less than the first two. That's because it has become increasingly evident that while Ramaphosa says all the right things about growth and job creation, that doesn't mean anything will happen.
The president has made progress delivering the governance and leadership reforms he promised, but despite the energy he has put into wooing investors and the priority on growth and jobs which he underlined again in this week's Sona, the reform momentum has stalled.
February's Sona announced big moves to fix Eskom and auction broadband spectrum "shortly", but that hasn't happened.
— Economic reform momentum has stalled.
Meanwhile, investment and the economy contracted again in the first quarter, and business confidence remains stuck at depression levels. Hopes that the economic turnaround would take off post-election have been dashed as it has become ever more clear how poisonous the dynamics are within the ANC, as well as how deep the Zuma years' damage is to the state and its institutions.
SA is stuck in low growth mode — and many of the investors and business people who were euphoric 18 months ago have stopped believing.
LISTEN | The June 2019 Sona in 5 minutes
In a way, that's a good thing. There is a realism now about the difficult politics and glacial pace of change that wasn't there before. But while that realism featured in this week's Sona, it ultimately opted more for promises than for spelling out the pain SA will have to take if it is to get real about implementing the reforms needed to get the economy going again.
Ramaphosa spoke of an ambition to get growth "far greater than our population" in the next decade — which, given SA's population growth rate of about 1.6%, could imply no more than 2% on average, a far more realistic ambition than the National Development Plan's 5%.
The funding that President Cyril Ramaphosa has committed for Eskom
— R230bn
And he opened with a clear message about the need to make choices, some of which would be difficult and would not please everyone.
But where were the choices when he committed R230bn of funding for Eskom and didn't mention any cost-cutting or restructuring conditions? Where were the difficult choices when Ramaphosa spoke of grand plans for bullet trains from Joburg to Musina, or of building a brand-new city (do we need one)?
The Sona should also inspire, and this one had its fair share of inspirational and encouraging plans in areas such as youth employment. It also, crucially, reaffirmed the government's commitment to the independence and mandate of the Reserve Bank and to prudent fiscal policy.
But though Ramaphosa mentioned "trade-offs" and "sacrifices", he never detailed what they were.
Until those are faced and Ramaphosa's new administration can show it can get buy-in for its growth and jobs promises, and implement them, investors may stay sceptical and even 2% could be a stretch.
• Joffe is a communications consultant and freelance journalist
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