Late Night Talk

National Assembly deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli says it's all systems go for the State of the Nation Address (Sona) set to take place on Thursday.

He says he hopes Members of Parliament will this time see the importance of acting appropriately while in Parliament and recognise the necessity of treating the public with dignity.

The Economic Freedom Fighters have on several occasions caused disruptions in Parliament as a way to protest against former president Jacob Zuma and some of the decisions he made.

Tsenoli explained a decision taken by Parliament to cut costs at this year's Sona.

Read: 3 key messages we want to hear from President Cyril Ramaphosa's Sona

The general context is the management of finances just to say to the public that we as Parliament are cognisant of the necessity, where appropriate, to cut costs.

— Lechesa Tsenoli, Deputy speaker - National Assembly

President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the Presidential Youth Summit Dialogue on Wednesday ahead of his Sona to hear some of the issues faced by young people in South Africa.

Accountant and social commentator Khaya Sithole speaks to Clement Manyathela about some of the issues raised by young people.

There were issues raised about how higher education interacts with young people and what the government is going to do to ensure that the issue of unemployment among young people is going to be resolved.

— Khaya Sithole, Accountant and social commentator

In most instances, the president responded by saying he is going to cover those issues in his Sona statement today, but of course some of them he acknowledged that he was already working on. The minister of small business development stood up and said some of the things they have already committed to, like funding 43 young entrepreneurs this year alone.

— Khaya Sithole, Accountant and social commentator

Sithole explains that the decision to fund 43 young entrepreneurs is based on the fact that the 1976 Soweto uprising was 43 years ago.

He says Aspen and the South African Property Owners Association also committed to funding 43 young people respectively.

Business Leadership SA chief operating officer Busisiwe Mavuso says the organisation would like to see clear and positive messaging around property rights and settle the anxiety regarding the mandate of the South African Reserve Bank.

What has been coming out in the past weeks is really tantamount to beating the economy that is already on its knees and I think it is reckless and a danger to the country's reputation.

— Busisiwe Mavuso, COO - Business Leadership SA

If we are serious about positioning this country as an investment destination then I think our posture from a policy perspective has to mimic that.

— Busisiwe Mavuso, COO - Business Leadership SA

We need to see key policy imperatives that require strong intervention authority. I am talking about a plan to rebuild the SOEs. We want to see what is going to happen as far as Eskom is concerned.

— Busisiwe Mavuso, COO - Business Leadership SA

To hear the rest of the conversation, listen below:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : Lechesa Tsenoli urges MPs to be well-behaved at Sona