President Cyril Ramaphosa presented that State of the Nation Address (SONA) last night in a bid to restore the hope of South Africans. In his address, he offered his condolences to Türkiye but left Syria out. This is despite both countries being heavily impacted by the recent earthquake.

It's been a harrowing few days for the people of Syria and Turkey. This is following the catastrophic earthquake that hit the region earlier this week. 

With the earthquake being the first of its kind in over a century,  the tremors shortly afterward resulted in enormous damage to infrastructure, as well as the deaths of many people. As a result, many have lost their homes and livelihoods.

Despite all the turmoil, some regions have found themselves slightly at ease due to the humanitarian aid that they are receiving from humanitarian organisations and countries who are willing to lend a helping hand.

On 9 December, President Cyril Ramaphosa presented the State of the Nation Address, in which he spoke of the recent earthquake and sent out his condolences to Türkiye and not Syria. This is despite both countries having been negatively affected by the recent earthquake.

One may argue that the President made a simple mistake and unintentionally left the country out, however, with the thorough checks that such a speech goes through, it seems too intentional.

The recent investigation conducted by The Joburg Post (JP) shows the inconsistency in communication that has been provided to the embassies of Turkey and Syria of which Turkey received prior information of aid from the South African government being sent to its country.

Days after the earthquake, all that sits in the mailbox of the Syrian embassy is a letter of condolences from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation. 

So one begins to question whether the leaving out of Syria in the SONA was coincidental or if we are just like many other countries around the world who would rather watch many continue to die than put down sanctions.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the Syria-Turkey region continues to rise as almost 23 000 people have died since the earthquake. 

With rescue efforts still underway, snow and other weather conditions have made search and rescue operations much more difficult.

The situation is looking quite bad in some regions of Syria, which before the earthquake were subject to civil war and poverty. With some sanctions still limiting the level of aid the country can access, Syrians are beginning to lose hope.

You can still do your part for Syria by donating to the Syrian embassy under the following account: