When President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers his State of the Nation Address on Thursday he will have to confront a range of problems greater than almost any other president before him. It is not just the usual domestic problems involving load shedding, service delivery and the normal in-fighting in the ANC. It is also that he has to deal with our soldiers being killed by Rwandan-sponsored forces - and with US President Donald Trump.

It is common for presidents about to deliver their annual State of the Nation Address (Sona) to face a long list of problems. The recent history of the ANC is that it is divided and going through a process of losing support. What makes this Sona different may be the sheer range of problems Ramaphosa now faces.

First, domestically, some of the usual problems are still present, and perhaps even more pressing.

Despite the rude reminder over the weekend that intense load shedding is still possible, water issues are growing in urgency.

And while load shedding could finally be fixed (17 years after it was first caused by the ANC, water problems will be much harder to remedy.

This is because load shedding does not involve the mess that is local government in most provinces.

Water does, and as a result, Ramaphosa may now be in a position in which he has to start a process to remove certain powers from local government. Already, there have been some suggestions this would involve ring-fencing revenue from water provision for water and sanitation systems. And thus, councils would have...