State of the Nation Address 2026 debate in the NCOP
Speech for Mr MM Peter, MP and Member of the NCOP for the United Democratic Movement at the State of the Nation Address 2026 debate
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Honourable Speaker
Honourable Members
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) supports the State of the Nation Address as tabled by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa. But support does not mean silence. In the true interest of serving the people of South Africa, we rise to sharpen, strengthen and submit proposals that move this nation from promise to performance.
1. No country survives without law
Mr President, on the issue of illegal immigrants, the UDM wishes to comment as follows - no country can function if its laws are optional, and anyone who comes to this country legally must be prepared to abide by the law or they will be shipped out.
Fellow South Africans, you deserve a state that works, systems that speak to each other, and early warning mechanisms that stop crime before it spreads.
Without accurate Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) registration, South African Revenue Service (SARS) cannot collect revenue from all traders operating in our economy.
Furthermore, law enforcement cannot properly trace or dismantle criminal syndicates operating in the underworld.
South Africa urgently needs a coordinated security response plan with time frames and the strengthening of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) as to be functional.
South Africa’s liberation history teaches us solidarity. But protection must be credible and enforceable.
If a person is granted asylum yet voluntarily returns to the very country they claim to be fleeing during holiday season, that status must be reviewed. You cannot be in danger today and on holiday tomorrow.
Accountability is not hostility. It is fairness. It is security. It is sovereignty.
2. Skills development: from training to productivity
We welcome the review of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) as a corrective measure to ensure that skills funding delivers measurable results.
Within the Department of Defence, the South African National Service Institute (SANSI) recently passed out over 500 young people.
Mr President, do consider ring-fencing and redirecting SETA funding towards:
• Funding into structured, outcome-based programmes such as SANSI.
• Standardised study guides in mathematics, languages, accounting and entrepreneurship.
• Mandatory practical and technical skill components.
In 2001, Deputy Minister Holomisa, Matt Matthys, a maths teacher, Chantel Mulder, then Chief Executive Officer of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), and the then President of SAICA, Ignatius Sehoole spearheaded the Thuthuka Project, providing English, Mathematics, and Accounting study guides for Grades 9 to 12. Today, that project has produced over 2,000 Black Chartered Accountants.
We may need to have a tailor made, or similar setup into skills development.
3. Public Investment Corporation:
Mr President, in 2023 you called on the Minister of Finance to address the pension queries of former civil servants. The affected community is still waiting for feedback and progress reports. People are dying while the system drags its feet, and each day of delay is a day of injustice.
It is even more painful to see that the funds meant to secure these pensions are being looted by the elite through the Isibaya Fund at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC). Resources meant for ordinary South Africans are being diverted to enrich a few, deepening inequality and betraying public trust.
How we wish that money could instead be invested in South Africa’s infrastructure, generating real returns for the country and creating jobs. This is a guaranteed investment in the nation, not in private greed. The people deserve accountability and action, not corruption.
I thank you.
