Come February 12, the people of the seaside town Jeffrey’s Bay, and the broader South African surfing community, will probably experience a bitter taste in their mouths when President Cyril Ramaphosa inevitably lines up his State of the Nation bingo card: reiterating that the government’s policy is one of job creation, growth, and inclusive development.

For more than three decades, Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape has been one of the most iconic stops on the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour, hosting elite professional surfers on its world‑famous Supertubes break and drawing international attention and tourism to the region and adding millions of rands to the local economy. However, Jeffreys Bay has been dropped from the 2026 WSL schedule largely because the necessary financial backing was not secured. The lack of funding commitment from national government, via the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture (DSAC), is reported as central to the cancellation of this year’s event.

This cancellation might seem like a far-off problem for a niche sport, but for Jeffreys Bay businesses and people it means lost bookings, lost sales, less patronage at local restaurants, less exposure to international tourism, media and investment. The local economy suffers and jobs are at risk.

The reality is that such examples are multiplied many times over in South Africa – in many sectors and industries, and intersecting almost all governmental departments.

So, when the president again says the government is championing job creation, when the government’s actions has directly put community jobs and economic opportunity at risk, one can only imagine the frustration and anger within affected communities.

This frustration is present all over South Africa: from Jeffreys Bay to Grahamstown to Cape Town to Johannesburg. Government actions directly costing jobs and putting companies and the economy is risk is becoming an all too worrying norm. The South African government is saying one thing and doing the exact opposite.

Let’s list a few recent examples: the DSAC spends millions on a consulting company to appoint an artist to the South African pavilion at the Venice Biennale, only to retract their contract at the last minute, creating local and international reputational harm to the country. The Venice Biennale is not only a showcase of art, it is a show of a country’s intellectual vigor to an audience of the world’s top investor class. Locally, several major arts festivals have not been able to secure funding from the government again – again putting thousands of direct jobs at risk both in the arts sector but also in the towns hosting those festivals.

Government Health Departments are increasingly becoming problematic late-payers (or never payers), putting healthcare providers and medical device suppliers at risk (not to mention their own patients). The Director-General of the Department of Agriculture is storming ahead with an exercise to blanket ban certain agricultural chemical inputs based on submissions by activist groups instead of a careful examination by expertise – risking a number of critical agricultural export commodities, food stability and rural employment.

South African has received funding support for a green energy transition, but a recent about-turn by the Minister of Electricity means that this future investment into new industries that could help kick-start economic growth is also uncertain.

The president’s State of the Nation speech will receive a burst of media and social media attention. But what receives far less scrutiny are the cumulative consequences of this government’s actions: the hollowing out of industries, the loss of credibility with international partners, and the quiet disappearance of livelihoods. These matters do not make headlines – unless the industries take it upon themselves to get it into the headlines.

If job creation is truly the priority, then policy coherence matters. Every sector should be clear about what that means, and use every opportunity from public relations and earned media to social media and direct engagement– as part of a strategic communications effort to ensure the message lands with the very same people who seemingly work against them. Government’s policy bungles should be met with a fierce industry response, not timid acceptance.

– Gerhard Mulder
Account Manager