'Not surprised' was the reaction of some veteran MPs to this year's Sona. With an election looming, many opposition parties believed Cyril Ramaphosa used the event to campaign for the ANC.

For the first time in several years, there were no interruptions or points of order called by members of Parliament during the State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday.

The EFF boycotted the event after party leader Julius Malema and five other MPs failed to have their suspensions from the House overturned by a court.

But other opposition parties reacted strongly to the last Sona under South Africa's sixth administration, saying Ramaphosa offered only empty promises and delivered a campaign speech ahead of this year's elections - for which he did not announce a date.

An Eskom announcement undercut the President's focus on the ANC's successes over the past 30 years and plans to resolve South Africa's challenges. Shortly after Ramaphosa said he was "confident ... the end of load shedding is finally within reach", the power utility announced that the country had moved to Stage 3 load shedding until further notice.

'Broken promises'

Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen said this was the last Sona that would be delivered by an ANC president with a majority in the National Assembly.

"None of the promises made by President...