{"id":850694,"date":"2026-02-12T18:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=850694"},"modified":"2026-02-12T18:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T16:56:15","slug":"where-you-can-watch-the-2026-state-of-the-nation-address-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/850694\/where-you-can-watch-the-2026-state-of-the-nation-address-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Where you can watch the 2026 State of the Nation Address live"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the 2026 State of the Nation Address (SONA) at 19h00 tonight, 12 February 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The address will be streamed and broadcast across several channels, including news channels, radio stations, DStv, and live-streaming services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can watch the SONA from the following sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ParliamentofRSA\/videos\">Parliament TV<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@encanews\/featured\">ENCA<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@sabcdigitalnews\/featured\">SABC<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>DStv channel 408<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The SONA will also be streamed live below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"SONA 2026 - BUILD UP , 12 February 2026\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5roXdvGJ2pc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While the SONA often focuses on rhetoric and the National Budget on actual policy decisions, the President&#8217;s address is often a useful source for the government&#8217;s future plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe SONA tends to touch on the same themes each year, comparing progress against the prior year and can give insight into the budget,\u201d said Investec Chief Economist Annabel Bishop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHowever, the SONA also has a degree of blandness as the same topics resurface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She noted that business and investors will look for updates and plans to reduce or eliminate freight constraints, weak governance, and crime and corruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although load shedding has been largely addressed, the country still sees load reduction where to inadequate transmission capacity to meet demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe water and sanitation crises still persist, along with high unemployment, poverty and weak growth,\u201d Bishop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There have also been concerns about insufficient progress in reducing red tape and bureaucratic processes, which have hurt the ease of doing business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hopes for the speech <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-790460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1200x675-Thys-van-Zyl.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Thys van Zyl, CEO of Everest Advisory Services<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Thys van Zyl, CEO of Everest Advisory Services, said that a central focus for the government should be improving growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa is expected to see GDP growth from around 1.2% to 1.7%. Although this is an improvement, it is far below the 3% to 4% needed to reduce unemployment and raise living standards materially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;At these levels, the economy is stabilising \u2014 not transforming. Without a sharp rise in fixed investment, particularly in energy, logistics, and manufacturing, growth will remain insufficient to absorb new labour market entrants,&#8221; said Van Zyl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;What South Africans want to hear is not optimism, but a credible plan to lift growth above 3%, supported by timelines, funding clarity, and private-sector participation.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, while headline inflation has moderated to near the new target of around 3%, households are still experiencing extreme cost pressures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Food, fuel, transport, and medical costs \u2014 the largest components of middle- and lower-income budgets \u2014 continue to rise faster than average inflation.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Medical inflation alone often exceeds\u00a07\u20139%, while household debt levels remain elevated. South Africans are not asking for abstract macroeconomic victories. They want\u00a0measures that reduce day-to-day pressure.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He added that South Africa&#8217;s foreign policy posture has become more visible and more assertive. While he believes principled diplomacy matters, economic consequences cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa, for instance, still faces significant tariffs from the United States amid strained relations between the countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Trade relationships, particularly with major markets, directly affect jobs in automotive manufacturing, agriculture, and mining,&#8221; said Van Zyl. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Diversification into African and Asian markets is essential, but slow. SONA must articulate how South Africa will\u00a0protect jobs while navigating an increasingly polarised global environment.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He noted that South Africans are not asking for miracles but merely momentum to catapult the country forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the 2026 State of the Nation Address later today, 12 February, with business leaders looking for plans to address the nation&#8217;s largest challenges.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":663243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[18071,1498,24730],"class_list":["post-850694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-everest-wealth","tag-investec","tag-state-of-the-nation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850694"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":850704,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850694\/revisions\/850704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}