Please give South Africa hope that we can build an economy that prioritises care, tackles the scourge of gender-based violence, promotes equality, and centres the needs of the most vulnerable.

Dear Mr President, 2024 is a watershed moment for South Africa. This year will mark the 30th anniversary of South Africa's constitutional democracy and the seventh time South African citizens will exercise their democratic rights in a general election. As you finalise your State of the Nation Address (Sona), the last you will deliver to this sixth democratic Parliament, we do not doubt that you too are reflecting on these milestones.

In this historic moment, we call on you to align government's policy and implementation efforts behind the needs of the country's marginalised people and place these at the centre of the Sona. We call on you to ensure that government speaks with one voice, coherently advancing and funding stated policy priorities. This would ensure that the advancement of constitutional rights is prioritised in key government plans and budgets.

Policy coherence requires the alignment of efforts across Cabinet, and in particular between stated policy priorities and the national Budget being tabled later this month. Such alignment cannot be successful if the minister of finance and National Treasury continue to act unilaterally, undermining programmes that are constitutional entitlements and stated government policy.

In recent years, we have...