Ramaphosa Faces the Nation’s Frustrations in Parliament, Here’s What He’ll Be Asked

President Cyril Ramaphosa returns to Parliament on Tuesday for a sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), and the timing couldn’t be sharper. With local government elections due next year and public anger peaking over service delivery failures, corruption scandals and economic stagnation, MPs are expected to put the president on the spot.

These sessions are usually scripted and polite, but this time the questions cut to the heart of the country’s anxieties, and the answers could shape political momentum going into 2026.

1. Service Delivery Meltdown: Water, Power and Broken Municipalities

The first round of questions zeroes in on something South Africans are tired of debating, the collapse of basic services.

Millions still go days without water, and municipalities continue piling up unpaid debt to Eskom and water boards. With the elections less than a year away, MPs want to know how national government is actually monitoring and intervening.

Cape Town’s informal settlements, a political flashpoint, will be singled out. Ramaphosa is expected to outline what is being done to improve living conditions in these high-density areas, where service provision has long been uneven and politicised.

2. Corruption in Cabinet: Public Patience is Gone

Two explosive developments, the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s ad hoc committee into police corruption, have rattled the country.

Claims of cartel-style collusion between businessmen, cops and government officials have dominated headlines. Now, MPs want Ramaphosa to explain what he’s doing to clean up his own Cabinet and stop rot in key state organs.

The public mood is unforgiving. Social media is already demanding names, suspensions and timelines. If Ramaphosa appears vague or defensive, it risks deepening voter cynicism heading into the elections.

3. Reviving Local Industry: Jobs vs Global Retreat

The president will also be grilled on economic recovery, specifically, how government plans to rescue struggling sectors like manufacturing, textiles, agriculture and automotive production.

International companies have been quietly downsizing their South African operations. Coca-Cola recently warned of looming job cuts. Goodyear already shut down its Kariega factory earlier this year, wiping out hundreds of posts.

Ramaphosa has spent years promising reindustrialisation and employment growth, but Tuesday’s session will likely test whether those promises still carry weight.

4. Rail Infrastructure: Can Industry Recover Without It?

Industry revival means nothing without logistics and rail is central to that equation.

Ramaphosa is expected to give an update on restoring the country’s dysfunctional rail network. Some lines have been vandalised, abandoned or tied up in bureaucracy for years.

There are signs of movement:

• Transnet has opened logistics channels to private companies

• Prasa has committed R21 billion in capital investment

• The agency has delivered 300 new train sets, aiming for 600 by 2035

MPs will want timelines, not ambitions. Communities along broken rail corridors want trains running again not more ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

5. Gaza and SA’s Global Voice

Although most questions deal with domestic failures, one international issue will be on the agenda: Gaza.

The timing is significant, world leaders just met in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to sign a declaration calling for enduring peace. South Africa wasn’t central to those talks, despite its ongoing genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Ramaphosa is likely to face two linked questions:

• Why wasn’t South Africa part of the peace dialogue?

• What progress has been made on the ICJ case?

The Gaza issue is politically charged at home, especially among voters who see South Africa as a moral voice on global justice or fear grandstanding without strategy.

Why Tuesday Matters Politically

This NCOP session isn’t a routine Q&A. It’s a stress test for Ramaphosa’s credibility heading into a decisive election cycle.

Here’s what’s at stake:

• Service delivery failures could cost the ANC control of more municipalities

• Corruption pressure threatens Cabinet coherence

• Industrial decline fuels unemployment and social unrest

• Rail recovery could boost or sink economic revival efforts

• Foreign policy on Gaza is a litmus test for South Africa’s global standing

South Africans are no longer satisfied with promises or platitudes. They want timelines, action, and accountability,  and Tuesday’s answers will be closely watched far beyond Parliament’s walls.