President Cyril Ramaphosa didn't announce an election date, but delivered what was in effect a second State of the Nation Address -- with a sharp klap for those dismissing his allegory of 'democracy's child' Tintswalo, the beneficiary of democratic gains under 30 years of ANC governance.

"[Critics] are prepared to dismiss all of this progress because it does not serve their narrative of a failed nation, it does not serve their political aspirations, it does not serve their narrow interests," President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a veiled reference to the DA in particular, and opposition political parties in general, in his reply to an acerbic State of the Nation Address (Sona) debate.

"They do not want a national democratic society. They want to preserve racial privilege and to reverse the fundamental social and economic transformation that is taking place in our country."

Thursday's dig at the opposition benches as racist, elitist and naysayers falls in line with the tone the governing ANC set at its January 8 Statement rally. Then Ramaphosa, as party boss, talked of the onslaught by "anti-transformation forces" against the ANC with the aim "to deprive the ANC of the ability to use state power to effect change".

It's classic ANC tactics to pull into the laager for a fight against an enemy -- and it has helped the governing party to mobilise significant support. It's a crucial approach ahead of the upcoming elections, in which pundits predict the ANC may lose...