National Planning Commission Workshop
Honourable JT Radebe, Minister in the Presidency: Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and Chairperson of the National Planning Commission
Opening Remarks
Deputy Chairperson, commissioners and officials, good morning.
Welcome to this strategic planning workshop of the National Planning Commission. Please accept our sincere apology for the change in the starting time of this workshop which was communicated at short-notice.
I am delighted that we have managed to find time to convene as decided at our previous meeting. This demonstrates the seriousness with which the commission approaches its responsibilities.
Thank you for making the effort as I believe many of you had to rearrange diaries in order for this workshop to be possible.
Apologies
We have received an apology from Dr Miriam Altman; she is unable to join us today due to family commitments but will make an attempt to join us for at least one day.
Dr Mahlati and Dr Bhengu will not be able to attend on Monday due to long-standing arrangements that they could not get out of.
Dr Zondi is on his way back from the Caribbean landing this morning and will join us as the day progresses.
Officials and invited guests
In addition to officials from DPME, we have invited officials from Statistics South Africa to be part of this workshop, to hear first-hand of the data needs of the commission and provide information where necessary.
The committee that we appointed at the previous meeting to prepare for this workshop advised that it would help us all to participate freely if we get external facilitation of the workshop. In that regard, we have requested Professor Mike Muller to assist us. He is well-known to many of us. Muller was on the previous commission; he is a well-known water specialist whose advice is sought across the globe and for that reason, he is sadly only able to be with us for today.
Other guests will join us during specific sessions to share their views and perspectives as reflected on the agenda. We thank all our guests, including those not yet here for giving up their weekend to come and be with us.
Agenda
This is an important workshop as it will determine what we do for the next few months and years in fulfilment of the mandate given to us by His Excellency, President Zuma.
The workshop is intended to provide us an opportunity to know each other beyond the name and title. An opportunity is provided on the agenda for commissioners to introduce themselves and talk about their expectations, their professional interests, as well as give us a sense of what kind of contribution we can expect from each commissioner.
The following session will allow commissioners to reflect on broader developments and trends locally as well as globally that impact on the implementation of the National Development Plan. The session is also intended to reflect on fault-lines in society with a view to inform the setting of priorities that the commission will pursue.
Thereafter, we will be joined by various experts in two sessions that focus on the economy and social transformation. Armed with all of this information, the commission will be on its own from Sunday afternoon to identify priorities, agree on methods of working, organise ourselves into task teams or working groups.
Expectations
Being appointed by the President for any task in the service of your country is an honour that only a few have. But it comes with a great deal of expectations. Our economy is in bad shape; we are experiencing a water challenge even before recovering from the electricity emergency; unemployment is ticking up; and many of our institutions such as universities, public enterprises, the legislature, are going through pain.
Our people are looking to this commission to provide answers and put our nation once again on a winning path. It is for this reason that one area of our mandate is “To promote and advance the implementation of the National Development Plan across different sectors of society”. It means that we are expected to gather the best knowledge in order to advise others on how to implement the NDP.
Possible focus areas
During this workshop we need to identify areas to focus on, understanding that in order for us to be successful we have to be selective. I would like to use this opportunity to put forward a few candidates for the commission’s consideration.
First, is the need to analyse how public resources are used and advise on how resource allocation can be redirected towards the NDP priorities. We must help our government weigh the trade-offs and make the difficult but necessary choices.
We also need to propose to government how more resources can be mobilised from public and private sources to fund the investment we need to make to drive growth, including increasing our expenditure on research and development. We must look at how successful economies attract and keep investors.
Second, there a few areas where there is already a crisis or there are signs that unless drastic measures are taken we are heading for one. These include energy, water, food security, education and skills, and infrastructure generally. We must take a view on what the role of the commission is going to be in responding to these challenges.
Third, there are areas that are identified in the NDP as opportunities that need attention in order to unlock their potential. They include, research and development, innovation in order to increase our productivity and undertake drive industrialisation, as well as small business development. The NDP tells us that if we do everything right, 90% of the new jobs will come from small businesses. The question is how do we enable that.
Fourth, is a group of issues that are about how best to use the levers the state has in its hands to drive radical socio-economic change. They include better utilising public procurement spend of some R500 billion per year, ensuring that development finance institutions serve our development agenda, effectiveness of state-owned enterprises, use of licensing power of the state and policy directives.
Fifth, we need to investigate more effective ways of reducing costs in our economy for both businesses and households. This is the directive of the NDP. We must lead a movement: Hashtag, Costs Must Fall!
It is nothing to be proud of that many years after identifying the fact that communication and broadband costs are much higher than in comparable countries but progress has been rather slow; the same is true for port charges and other services used by our people. We must investigate the causes of the stubbornness in these sectors and propose effective solutions.
Sixth, we need a sophisticated view of the constraints to growth and employment creation which is accompanied by how we are going to engage with all relevant stakeholders such as government, the private sector and unions to find lasting solutions.
Seventh, we have made a breakthrough on the issue of the assignment of the national spatial development framework function. In a meeting of ministers last week, it was agreed that this function will be reassigned to the DPME and the framework will be developed together with the NPC. Officials of relevant departments are working out the necessary details and next steps that need to be taken.
Finally, we must vigorously promote and market the NDP. Everyone must not only know about it but have sufficient information that enables them to identify a role for themselves. Many others are already playing their part and we must know about them and highlight their work.
In relation to the organised formations in society we need to embark on sustained engagements that allow us to both identify and unlock blockages that impede their participation in the implementation of the NDP.
Conclusion
In conclusion, when we leave here, we must have identified our focus areas, and agreed on our method of working, protocols to follow in engaging with other sectors.
Finally, I would like to thank the commissioners who volunteered to design the agenda of this workshop.
I really look forward to the next 3 days and I now hand over to the facilitator, Professor Muller to take over from here.
Thank you.
