National Development Plan of South Africa
The National Planning Commission (NPC) was given a mandate in February 2011 to develop a long-term vision and strategic plan for South Africa. The NPC is chaired by the minister in the presidency for national planning and its mandate includes country-wide consultation.
Among the first documents the NPC released, in June 2011, was a detailed ‘diagnostic overview’ which aimed to identify the main challenges confronting the country and to examine their underlying causes. The diagnostic overview was not seen as a plan. It invited an informed discussion about the major issues confronting the nation. The draft National Development Plan – Vision for 2030 was then delivered by the NPC in November 2011. A further intensive national consultation ensued and the revised National Development Plan 2030 was launched in August 2012 ‘as a platform for united action by all South Africans to eradicate poverty, create full employment and reduce inequality…towards a truly united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society’.
The NPC is currently involved in advising government on an implementation framework for the National Development Plan.
Governance
The NPC dealt with the challenge of corruption in its diagnostic overview. It said that corruption, or the misuse of an official position for personal gain, occurs in both the public and private sectors, but it is particularly damaging to good relations between citizens and the state. It undermines confidence in the democratic system by enabling the better-off to exert undue influence over the policy process or obtain preferential access to services.
The NPC’s consultations with the agencies tasked with investigating cases of corruption have revealed high levels of corruption. Civil society and the media have played a prominent role in highlighting cases of corruption. The National Victims of Crime Survey suggested that three per cent of South Africans experienced corruption in 2007.
According to the Special Investigating Unit, it is estimated that 20-25 per cent of state procurement expenditure, amounting to roughly 30 billion rand a year, is wasted through overpayment or corruption
