Broad support for National Development Plan - Manuel

(Image: GCIS)

"There is broad support for the objectives of the plan - the elimination of poverty and the reduction of inequality and for the plan itself," Manuel said on Wednesday while presenting his budget vote speech in the National Assembly.

"People welcomed the plan as pragmatic, realistic and detailed. There is a tremendous amount of goodwill in the country and the comments on the plan reflect this."

He said the National Planning Commission was presently refining the plan and intended releasing the refined plan in early August, after which Cabinet would then consider the plan for adoption.

He said over the past six months since releasing the plan, the commission had embarked on one of the most extensive public consultation processes since the drafting of the Constitution in the mid-1990s.

Widespread consultation

In addition to talking to the citizens of the country, he said there was extensive consultation with national government departments, provinces, organised local government, state-owned enterprises and development finance institutions.

He said South Africans, representing a wide spectrum of backgrounds and interests, had been remarkably generous in their consultation with the commission.

"This remarkable exercise in democratic engagement is reminiscent of all the enthusiasm that characterised the spirit in which our Constitution was adopted on 8 May 1996 in this very chamber," he said.

Manuel said there had been criticism of the plan, including that the plan was uneven across the thematic areas, with some being strong and others being incredibly weak.

"Some of the chapters contain too many broad, nice statements without confronting the trade-offs or addressing how this will happen."

He said it had also been suggested that the plan was weak on the precise role of the private sector in supporting the developmental agenda and though it was critical of narrow Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), the plan did not provide sufficiently strong alternatives to promote economic transformation.

"Environmentalists have critiqued the plan for being too connected to our present areas of comparative advantage such as the minerals sector."

Implementation raises questions

However, Manuel said the single biggest area of feedback was on the implementation of the plan.

"Most people who support the plan have raised questions about how the plan will be implemented, who will implement it and what steps will be taken to ensure alignment across departments, provinces and municipalities."

He said there was general recognition that there remained critical weaknesses in the capacity of the state, weaknesses that could be remedied, and that there were weaknesses in the government's accountability chain.

"Parliament is best placed to lead such reflection and begin the process of enhancing oversight and accountability," he pointed out.

Manuel said, however, there was still too little recognition in society that the implementation of the plan depended on all citizens and sectors of society.

"We still have work to do in breaking the 'government will deliver' culture," he said.

Between 17 and 19 April, the commission held separate briefings with four clusters of committees covering the economy, governance and administration, peace and security and social services.

Corruption is crippling

Some recommendations from the committees included that there must be a political will to eliminate corruption; that the plan should specify how strategic partnerships should be identified and established to ensure mutual benefit; the focus should be on economic diplomacy with strategic countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, and that primary health care should be at the core of interventions aimed at health promotion.

The plan was also discussed in detail with the National Council of Provinces on 25 April.

Offline discussions were held with most of the political parties represented in Parliament.

He said the work of the National Planning Commission did not stop when the Plan was presented and adopted.

The commission would continue to mobilise support in society for the plan; it would conduct on-going research into critical areas of development to support planning and policy development; advise the government on implementing the plan, and work with the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation to monitor the implementation of the plan.

He said there were several priority areas where South Africans needed more research and policy development, including food security, water security and rural development; climate change adaptation strategies; more effective models of BEE; exercise, diets, nutrition and other preventative health areas; social cohesion and language; disability policy and finally, partnerships for innovation.