Planning Africa 2016
“Making Sense of the Future - Disruption and Reinvention”
Keynote address by Mr Jeff Radebe, Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and Chairperson of the National Planning Commission
4 July 2016, Sandton Convention Centre
Programme Director, Mr Yusuf Patel SAPI Past President
Honourable Paul Mashatile, MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements in the Gauteng Province
Councillor Parks Tau, Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I wish to congratulate the South African Planning Institute on its 20th Anniversary since it was established following the merger of the South African Institute of Town and Regional Planners and the Development Planning Association of South Africa. I would like to pay tribute to members of the executive committee for steering the ship over what must have been a difficult 20 years.
Overview of developments in the past 22 years
The planning sector has gone through a number of changes in the past 22 including policy and legislative changes, as well as introduction of new instruments and institutions. Planning at the local sphere of government is governed by a legislative framework – the Municipal Systems Act 2000 - that has been in place for the past 17 years. The Public Finance Management Act, (1999) which governs strategic and annual performance planning, budgeting and financial management at the provincial and national spheres has also been in place for 18 years; while the Municipal Finance Management Act was introduced in 2003. The Development Facilitation Act (1995) which was the first piece of legislation by the democratic government aimed at transforming settlement planning was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2010 and this gave impetus to the finalization of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (2013) which was signed into law after 12 years in the making.
There have been numerous judgements by various courts, including the Constitutional Court on matters related to planning in the recent while. In the main, disputes that have ended in the courts have centred around the interpretation of the constitutional allocation of responsibility for planning. Sectoral legislation, of which there are many, and provincial planning legislation have been found to have transgressed by taking powers that belong exclusively to municipalities and various courts have made judgements that have helped to clarify matters. This also means that there is a lot of work ahead of us to bring all our planning legislation in line with the constitution as affirmed by the courts.
A more recent development that affects planning is that seven years ago President Zuma appointed the first Minister of Planning, my former colleague, Mr Trevor Manuel in 2009 and later he appointed the National Planning Commission. In 2014 he proclaimed the creation of a new department responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluation; and in September last year, he appointed the second Commission which I have the honour to chair. The creation of these institutions is intended to strengthen the country’s planning capacity which should result in more effective implementation of programmes.
Remaining challenges
As you can see from the brief historical account of developments in the planning field, planning is not new in South Africa; we have been planning since the dawn of our democracy. Over the past 22 years, we have produced hundreds of planning documents at the national, provincial and local government spheres. In fact, if producing plans were a measure of progress, we would be much further ahead as a nation, but a mere production of plans does not constitute planning and planning that is not followed by rigorous implementation does transform society.
We need to build on the lessons of the past 22 years and introduce policy and legislative reforms that address the contradictions between different legislations. During the busy period of transforming apartheid legislation in the late 1990s and the mid-2000s, laws governing various sectors were passed giving trumping powers on planning matters to ministers holding respective portfolios, and with the benefit of the various court judgements, we must correct the defects in the law..
Similarly, the allocation of functions to different ministries is inconsistent with our current institutional make-up. This is due to the fact that the ministry and department of planning, monitoring and evaluation are among the youngest institutions in our country. In their absence, responsibilities that belong to them were assigned to other institutions.
Furthermore, the frameworks that govern planning in our country, while they have served us well they have been shown to have some deficiencies which must be addressed.
We now have the National Development Plan which, as President Zuma said, is our roadmap for the next 20 years. It should guide all actions we take and decisions we make in government as well as in other sectors. It is heartening to hear everyone referencing the NDP in speeches, however planners have a duty to ensure that departments and all other institutions do not simply pay lip-service to the NDP; the plans and budgets of the various institutions must advance the goals of the NDP. This by implication means that planners have to have a deep understanding of the NDP.
There has also been some policy ambiguity with regards to rural and urban development. A number of programmes have been implemented in the past 22 years in a policy vacuum leading to some unintended consequences.
Government’s response
Let me now turn to what we are doing to address these issues. I have already indicated that we need to amend the laws and this process is ongoing. Government is beginning to implement the recently promulgated Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act. The fact that we have this law in place is a major achievement which we must celebrate and support. It is by no means perfect and like all the others it will be amended as we go along drawing on lessons from practice.
The matter of aligning the assignment of functions with regards to planning with our institutional make-up is also receiving attention. In discussions with Ministers of Rural Development and Land Reform and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs we have agreed that the planning functions will be relocated. This agreement includes that DPME will take over the responsibility for driving and producing the National Spatial Development Framework, a plan which will indicate what aspects of our NDP will happen where and when across our whole country. Officials from our respective departments are working out the technical details to give effect to this decision. I have requested that we finalise the National Spatial Development Framework over the next year which will ensure that South Africans have a clear understanding of how our national programmes will transform the national landscape. Admittedly, the agreement we have reached with the ministers deals with one part of the fragmentation of the planning system, and once we have completed this part, attention will have to turn to other areas of planning.
In 2014, the responsibility for regulating strategic and annual performance plans was shifted from National Treasury to DPME, and from provincial treasuries to Offices of the Premiers. Related to this, we have established a unit in DPME to assess the socio-impact of all policies and laws. These are important developments in the quest to ensure that plans are aligned to the goals of the NDP.
We have also developed a discussion document on proposed reforms to the planning system. This document draws on lessons from various countries in different parts of the world and makes a number of proposals that affect all spheres, including the following:
1. Government should prioritise a strong commitment to spatial transformation and identify specific policy instruments and incentives that can serve as the entry points to initiate processes of transformation.
2. At the national sphere, the responsibility for the formulation of the national spatial development framework as contemplated in the SPLUMA should be assigned to an entity responsible for the national planning function to ensure that spatial planning plays its coordinating role effectively.
3. National departments responsible for concurrent functions should take responsibility for disaggregating data to the provincial and/or municipal level
4. Amend the frameworks to introduce greater flexibility and put greater weight on non-measurable aspects of strategic plans and annual performance plans
5. Reduce the perverse incentives of target setting by tracking and analysing progress towards targets, rather than just whether or not targets are met
6. Strengthen interaction between national and provincial planning entities through re-establishing a forum for regular interactions.
7. Municipal IDPs should promote greater selectivity on what is focused on based on the responsibilities of local government and the priorities of the NDP.
(During the course of this conference, officials from DPME will make a detailed presentation of the planning discussion document in one of the parallel sessions.)
On the matter of addressing the policy ambiguity on urbanization, earlier this year Cabinet approved the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF). The IUDF is a policy initiative of our Government coordinated by the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG). It seeks to foster a shared understanding across government and society about how best to manage urbanisation and achieve the goals of economic development, job creation and improved living conditions for South Africans. The framework deals with challenges of transformation that range from apartheid spatial planning to the continuing increase in urbanisation in South Africa. It is about maximising the potential of urban areas by integrating and aligning investments in a way that improves the urban form.
(My colleague, Deputy Minister Nel will give a detailed presentation on the IUDF later today)
Role of innovation in planning
In 2012, the NPC and the Gauteng Provincial Government agreed to initiate a Partnership for Urban Innovation (PUI) the purpose of which was to find innovative ways to address challenges, and take advantage of opportunities presented by urbanization for the benefit of the population and cities. One of the projects of this partnership is to produce publication on case studies covering various innovations that address urban challenges.
We made a decision to contract young researchers given their inquisitive and creative minds to write the case studies and the publication will be released later this year. Some of the topics covered in the publication include:
· The importance of knowledge-driven solutions to social and economic transformation with particular reference to the taxi industry in South Africa,
· A case study of the San Francisco commuter benefit ordinance as a means to incentivise the use of public transport and its potential for South Africa.
· Land development and sustainable human settlements - the Certificates of Additional Development Potential (CEPACs), - a concept used in Brazil to auction development rights and stimulate social investments,
· An innovative approach to Public Private Partnerships to deliver housing in the Gap market were explored,
Other Urban innovations
Traffic management
Cities are increasingly making use of technology to reduce traffic congestion. In New York for example, the city has recently piloted a programme that installed sensors along 23 crucial intersections that detect the number of cars waiting for a traffic light to change. This information is then fed through a system at the city’s traffic centre, which then analyses the data in real-time and provides recommendations to traffic engineers to adjust traffic light patterns to help move things along.
Sidewalk tiles that generate electricity
In London, companies are building sidewalk tiles that convert kinetic energy to electricity that can be stored and used to power street lights, signage or even office buildings. Such innovations will be instrumental in dramatically reducing our carbon footprint while reducing the cost of electricity at the same time.
Conclusion
Planning requires clear and enabling legislation, policies and guiding frameworks. It also requires institutions with people who have the necessary skills and commitment to the transformation of our country. The clarity of roles is necessary as is the data to support planning. Finally, the world is changing rapidly, urbanization is taking place at a fast pace and we cannot solve today’s challenges with yesterday’s solutions. We must innovate. As I have indicated during this talk, all these issues are receiving attention and I would like to extend an invitation to members of the planning profession to work with us as we embark on these reforms.
Thank you
