Johannesburg – Political power is needed to drive the National Development Plan, or else it will stagnate.
This is the view of experts who feel party politics has tossed aside the debate on what needs to be done to develop the country.
And as President Jacob Zuma delivers his State of the Nation Address on Thursday, it is hoped that the targets set out in the NDP since it was launched in 2012 will be much clearer and more attainable.
The government has only 13 years to reach its target of increasing job opportunities, ensuring that all children are at schools and that citizens access quality healthcare, among other things, by 2030.
“The NDP is not being translated to what needs to be done. There is a great need for political will and people to oversee it and make sure it happens,” says Professor Ruksana Osman, education expert and dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Wits University.
She says while Zuma will use the Sona to outline strides made by his government in the past year, the real litmus test lies in whether these strides will be sustainable in years to come.
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“We know most children are now in school and there are good access rates. But the issue of access is compromised by success. Children are entering school but not achieving good results. It is those challenges we need to look into,” Osman says, adding that government departments need to work together.
“You always find the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. We need a more connective and cohesive approach.”
In his 2014 speech, Zuma said his cabinet had set a target of 6 million work opportunities from that year to 2019, which would target the youth.
In 2015 he gave a positive outlook, saying the number of jobs grew by 203 000, as indicated by Statistics SA, while last year he spoke of the need to strengthen and grow the economy in order to create jobs.
Professor in the Society, Work and Development Institute at Wits, Roger Southall, says there are many great things about the NDP but some of the targets are ambitious and unrealistic.
“The hope for 6% growth is not going to happen in 2030. The government is missing some of its targets. We are caught up in political crisis and have to deal with the effects of Brexit, the Trump administration and chicken imports. All of these take away from the developmental changes we seek.”
Southall says the priority right now is to do everything to avoid a downgrade in ratings.