BREAKING NEWS: #SONA2018 has been postponed

February 6, 2018
| Report Focus News

 The State of the Nation Address set to take place on Thursday has been postponed, it was announced on Tuesday.

A new date will be announced, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete said.

Mbete was addressing journalists outside Parliament to announce the official postponement of SONA. She was with Thandi Modise.

She confirmed that they were continuing their interaction with the president of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa.

Mbete said the fear of a possible repeat of previous disruptions of SONA addresses, had prompted Parliament’s decision.

Jackson Mthembu said the ANC caucus welcomed the decision to postpone SONA.

This latest development comes after days of speculation that President Jacob Zuma would be out before the SONA on Thursday.

Efforts to push Zuma out of office intensified this week after he refused to step down at a meeting with the party’s Top Six leadership in Pretoria on Sunday night.

After extensive deliberations at a meeting of the National Working Committee on Monday, a special NEC meeting was set to be convened on Wednesday.