Jacob Zuma
The State of the Nation Address (SoNA) and the Cabinet lekgotla are expected to focus strongly on the dire state of the economy, the presidency said on Tuesday.
The national response to slow economic growth and the highly-constrained fiscal environment would be among the topics of discussion, it said in a statement.
President Jacob Zuma would deliver the address during a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday, February 11.
The theme will be “Together We Move South Africa Forward”.
As part of preparations for Sona, Zuma would convene the Cabinet lekgotla from Tuesday, to review the past year.
The Sona would be influenced by the African National Congress's theme for 2016, the "Year of Advancing People’s Power: Local Government is in your Hands".
On Monday, Secretary to Parliament Gengezi Mgidlana said preparations were in place and they were confident that all MPs would follow new rules intended to prevent the disruptions that marred the event last year.
He said they were not expecting any jamming devices to be used in the National Assembly on the day.
A signal jamming device was used during last year’s Sona, leading to loud objections from the media and opposition parties as it prevented them from using their cellphones to communicate with the outside world.