Have your say on SONA

(Image: GCIS)

"As part of the preparations, the President invites inputs and suggestions through social media on issues people consider important for their well-being and those of their communities that should be included in the speech," the Presidency said on Sunday.

Members of the public are requested to submit their suggestions using the @PresidencyZA handle on Twitter and the Presidency of the Republic of South Africa Facebook page.

The social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook will run until Friday.

Meanwhile, the Presidency says preparations are at an advanced stage for SONA, which will be delivered on 12 February 2014 in Parliament.

"The SONA will outline progress made in the past year, the outstanding work that still needs to be done and the priorities of the 2015/2016 financial year," spokesperson Mac Maharaj said.

It will be delivered under the theme Together We Move South Africa Forward, which is government's core message until 2019 promoting collaboration by all South Africans in building a united, non-racial, non-sexist, and prosperous South Africa.

As part of the preparations, the President will convene the Cabinet Lekgotla from Tuesday in Pretoria. The Lekgotla will be attended by Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers, as well as Premiers and representatives of the South African Local Government Association.

The three-day Cabinet Lekgotla follows the Lekgotla of the governing party, the ANC, which sets the scene for government each year based on the organisation's annual January 8 Anniversary Statement.

The governing party has declared 2015 as the Year of the Freedom Charter and Unity in Action to Advance Economic Freedom. The Freedom Charter, which was adopted in 1955 in Kliptown at the Congress of the People meeting, will inform the content of the SONA and government's programme of action for the year.