The National Planning Commission (NPC) is a government initiative responsible for developing a long term vision and strategic plan for our country. The NPC’s mandate was given in the revised Green Paper which was released in February 2010 and was further elaborated by President Zuma, on 11 May 2010, at the inaugural meeting of the NPC.
The NPC was comprised of 25 part-time commissioners which the President appointed based on their skills and expertise. It was chaired by the Minister in the Presidency for National Planning, Trevor Manuel, with the ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa as the deputy chairperson. Other prominent individuals such as Bobby Godsell, Prof. Malegapuru Makgoba and Jerry Vilakazi are among the part time commissioners. There is also a fulltime secretariat of public servants to maintain the NPC.
After a concentrated period of consultation across the country the NPC completed the Draft NDP which was handed to the President and Deputy President on 11 November 2011. Following further consultation the revised NDP was given to the President on 15 August 2012 at a special joint sitting of Parliament. All political parties represented in Parliament articulated support for the NDP. Cabinet Lekgotla received the NDP on 6 September 2012 and acknowledged it as the strategic framework which would form the basis of future government planning.
The South African Government and the African National Congress (ANC) adopted the NDP as the cornerstone and blueprint for a future economic and socio-economic development strategy for the country as of 2012/13 at Mangaung in December 2012.
However, the NDP is a highly controversial document within the tripartite alliance. The differences run deep, and can be traced back in part to the unresolved tensions between proponents of the RDP initiative and GEAR respectively, in the 1990s.
The NDP claims to integrate the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) and the Economic Development Ministry’s New Growth Path (NGP) into the new National Planning Framework.
Core issues in the NDP relate to South Africa’s economic growth and the ability of the growth initiative to broaden socio-economic transformation in the country by 2030. These are addressed principally in Chapters 3 and 7, dealing respectively with ‘Economy and Employment’ and ‘Positioning South Africa in the World’.
As a long-term strategic plan, the NDP serves four broad objectives:
The NDP itself is divided into 15 chapters that deal with different aspects related to the achievement of its goals:
A respectable standard of living for all citizens is the aim of this Plan. Eradicating poverty and the diminution of inequality are the avenues through which this aim is to be achieved. The central elements in a respectable standard of living identified in the Plan are:
Government:
In November 2011 the DA welcomed the release of the NDP. After studying it the DA concluded that many of the key findings and proposed solutions were correct and could be endorsed. Notably it was believed that the NDP points to a “growing consensus amongst a growing number of people at the non-racial, moderate centre of politics.” [3]
While the NDP has been widely supported by most sectors, it faces significant criticism and opposition. Most notably the South African Communist Party (SACP) and some unions, including the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) are saying the plan in its current form cannot be implemented. They argue that it is more focused on capitalist interests than on the working class and the poor. [5]
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in its draft discussion document on aspects of the National Development Plan identified weakness in the NDP as including:
According to President Jacob Zuma, "The Plan was adopted by Cabinet [...] It enjoys the support of Parliament. It was also endorsed by the ruling party, the ANC, at its national conference in Mangaung in December. The NDP also enjoys the support other sectors of society. Very few policy documents have ever enjoyed such widespread support."
However, there is significant opposition to the NDP from within the tripartite alliance. In the short term, the run-up to the elections in 2014 strengthens the hands of its critics in the alliance, and provides them with powerful bargaining counters. President Zuma’s political pragmatism could yet persuade him to reconsider his position.
[1] http://www.npconline.co.za
[2] http://www.southafrica.info/business/economy/policies/ndp-140613.htm#.Uftu523zOwc
[3] http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71656?oid=268385&sn=Detail&pid=71616
[4] http://www.bdlive.co.za/economy/2013/06/04/marcus-calls-for-constructive-engagement-on-ndp
[5] http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=3972
[6] http://www.cosatu.org.za/docs/misc/2013/coleman_ndp.pdf
Eythan Morris – eythan@hsf.org.za
Intern
Helen Suzman Foundation