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Programme Director,
Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Honourable Andries Nel,
Chairperson of the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA), Professor Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo,
Executive Director of MISTRA, Mr Joel Netshitenzhe,
Dr Mpho Malatjie, and traditional leadership gathered today,
CEO of Business Leadership South Africa, Ms Busi Mavuso,
Distinguished authors and contributors to the publication, “State of the South African State",
Members of the research and policy community,
Representatives of business and civil society
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning! It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the 2025 National Evaluation Seminar, convened under the theme “Reimagining Evaluation for Innovation, Inclusion and Impact." This Seminar remains one of the most important spaces for government, evaluation practitioners, researchers, and partners, to learn from each other, to share experiences, and to strengthen how we use evaluation to improve the lives of South Africans. Evaluation is crucial for accountability, transparency, and ensuring effective service delivery for our people. Our monitoring and evaluation system cuts across government. Therefore, collaboration is crucial across all spheres of government, and across society to ensure the monitoring and evaluation continue to play a central role in ensuring progress and the successful implementation of programmes and interventions which deliver services and improve the lives of our people. Ladies and Gentlemen, We meet at a defining moment for our country. South Africa is currently hosting world leaders, who will attend the G20 Leaders' Summit taking place this weekend in Johannesburg. This year, South Africa has proudly held the G20 Presidency, advancing the theme of Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability. The various working groups of South Africa's G20 Presidency, including the Development Working Group (DWG) which I chaired, have advanced for partnerships and collaboration in addressing global inequality, particularly between wealthy countries and developing and low-income countries. At the same time, we have just five years left to achieve the 2030 targets of the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is a critical juncture – one that calls for robust, adaptive and forward-looking systems for evidence and accountability. Distinguished guests, We are operating in an era marked by resource constraints, social inequality, climate change, and geopolitical shifts, amongst many challenges. Yet, at the same time, we are also in an era of technological opportunity, innovation, and renewed hope in collective action to build a better world. The real question before us is not whether evaluation can adapt, but how it must transform to remain relevant, ethical and impactful. Our responsibility is not only to appreciate the progress we have made, but to continue with what has been proven to work while integrating new perspectives. Having said this, let me pose three challenges for our collective reflection: - How can we strengthen an enabling environment – to build and maintain appropriate institutional architecture that consistently generates and uses evaluation evidence to inform policy decisions, budget allocations and legislative reforms?
- How do we embed innovation and technology – including artificial intelligence and integrated data systems – into our evaluation practice without losing the human and contextual dimensions that make evaluation meaningful?
- How do we make evaluation more inclusive – ensuring that women, youth, persons with disabilities, and local communities are not merely consulted but are active participants in shaping evaluation agendas?
Ladies and Gentlemen, One of the key priorities for this year is to update South Africa's National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF). Since its introduction in 2011, the NEPF has established standards that guide how evaluations are designed, conducted, and used across government. This framework has helped to build a culture of evidence use in policymaking. However, our context has evolved. Today, we face increasingly complex policy challenges and stronger calls for accountability and inclusion. Realising this progression, the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) initiated a process to update the NEPF. The updated version, NEPF 2025, is now moving through government clusters on its way to Cabinet for approval. It was necessary to update the NEPF for the following reasons: - To align with new national priorities, as set out in the Medium-Term Development Plan (2024-2029) adopted by Cabinet earlier this year.
- To accelerate implementation and results, given the development backlogs we face and the short time left to 2030.
- To promote good governance through transparency. Evaluation evidence must guide how we set priorities, allocate resources and measure performance. In this way, we can reinforce public trust, particularly within the context of coalition arrangements and the Government of National Unity.
- To support adaptive governance — using systems thinking, real-time feedback, and foresight tools to help us respond better to complex challenges and improve service delivery.
Therefore, the objectives of NEPF 2025 are to: - Improve development outcomes through the use of context appropriate evaluation practices across government;
- Ensure evaluation evidence informs planning, budgeting and oversight;
- Promote inclusive and climate-sensitive policymaking;
- Strengthen evaluation capacity and professionalisation in government; and
- Support adaptive governance and policy innovation
These objectives will be achieved by incorporating contemporary evaluative approaches, leveraging digital and data innovations, and fostering collaboration across sectors. Today, the DPME will engage with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation to discuss progress on the drafting of legislation defining its mandate and scope. The session will also cover matters related to evaluation. Ladies and Gentlemen, While government continues to play its role, we recognise that much more can be achieved through collaborative partnerships and shared learning. I am particularly pleased that this seminar consistently brings together an exceptional network of partners – from government, academia, civil society, the private sector and international organisations. Our continued collaboration supports capacity building, peer learning and the diffusion of good practices – not only in South Africa, but across Africa and beyond. The global and regional collaborations show that evaluation can transcend borders, inform global discourse, and drive Africa's collective progress towards the SDGs and the African Union's Agenda 2063. In conclusion, As we open this year's National Evaluation Seminar, let us use this opportunity to shape the next generation of South Africa's evaluation system into one that is fit for purpose and future oriented, thereby delivering better outcomes for all South Africans. I wish you all the best in the proceedings. The outcomes of this seminar must strengthen role of evaluation in building a capable, ethical and developmental state, where no one is left behind. I thank you! |
