Opinion by Vusumzi Gqalane
Much like the timeless biblical wisdom in Proverbs, “‘ Where there is no vision, people perish.” A nation’s development is dependent on its ability to map out an unambiguous vision towards its destiny, for it is this vision that guides and sustains a nation’s growth, prosperity, and collective well-being.
However, A country without a plan of action and a well-defined Strategy to support the vision runs the risk of becoming aimless and squandering its opportunities for growth and wealth.
In the case of South Africa, it was in December 2012 when the African National Congress (ANC), at its 53rd national congress held in Mangaung, adopted the National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP Vision 2030 is a comprehensive and ambitious blueprint for South Africa’s future towards better living conditions for its citizens.
The plan’s primary goals include eliminating inequality and eradicating poverty through various important purposes and programs to expand South Africa’s development. The African National Congress-led administration drafted the 2030 NDP in 2011 and adopted it in 2012.
The National Planning Commission (NPC) was led by Trevor Manuel, then Chairperson and Minister of the Presidency. The NDP was hailed as a long-term economic, social, and political development created to address South Africa’s difficulties and provide a vision for the country’s future.
Looking at some of the issues and difficulties that the South African population encounters, which are believed to besupposedly tackled by the NDP. For instance, Local government is considered the sphere of governance closest to the people. It plays a crucial role in implementing national policies and achieving the goals outlined in the National Development Plan (NDP).
However, the condition of local government in South Africa is often described as dysfunctional and marked by unstable and fragile coalition administrations that have struggled to deliver fundamental services like water, healthcare, and housing. A good example would be the troubled Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in Bloemfontein, which held the ANC 53rd National Congressthat endorsed the NDP. Despite multiple efforts by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the provincial government to intervene and address the challenges faced by Mangaung, they were unsuccessful.
As a result, the national government invoked Section 139 of the Constitution, which grants the national government the power to assume control of all municipal governance in cases where the municipality fails to fulfill its mandate of delivering essential services. The national intervention in Mangaung demonstrated the deterioration and inadequacy of local government in providing critical services consistent with the NDP’s targets of reducing poverty, unemployment, and inequalities.
On the other side, South Africa has had an enormous budgetdeficit since the implementation of the NDP, which is the most apparent proof of our economic woes. Also, The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) repo rate is now at 8.25% and has been raised at least ten times since November 2021.
On top of that, General Risenga Maluleke has released the Quarterly Labour Force Survey statistics for the period April 1 to June 30, 2023, which show that South Africa’s official unemployment rate has decreased by 0.3% compared to the previous quarter, with the latest figure now standing at 32.6%(Statistics South Africa, 2023).
More on that, the officially reported unemployment rate, around 33%, continues to be a significant national crisis. South Africa finds itself in the unenviable position of having the highest global unemployment rate, as reported by the World Bank.
To compound matters, this distressing situation is made even worse by two of the country’s most significant socioeconomic challenges: poverty and inequality. Above them all, South Africa is currently dealing with its most severe energy crisis, which is marked by frequent and protracted power outages.
The utility of power Eskom has been accused of corruption and state capture, which has substantially impacted its ability to provide consistent and reliable energy. As such, many South Africans face difficulties in critical services, worsening societal inequality.
A DECADE LATER WITH NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (NDP)
Over ten years later, South Africa is on the brink of collapse. As a result, social and economic inequalities can no longer be ignored. On August 1, 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the National Planning Commission’s 10-Year Review of the National Development Plan report.
Like many other reviews, the review exposed the lack and need for more oversight, effective implementation of the NDP, and its failure to meet its target to fight poverty, unemployment, and inequalities in South Africa. Even in the face of economic challenges, the ANC remains determined to achieve its economic goals for 2030.
This is despite different ANC leaders, including current President Cyril Ramaphosa, admitting that the ANC-led government has failed to implement and reach the NDP’s targets successfully. Also, Former President Thabo Mbeki once criticized and said, “The National Development Plan is not a plan, it’s a vision; weneed to take the NDP and elaborate a plan to achieve these objectives outlined in the NDP, and I don’t sense that any work is being done to implement it.
Let’s elaborate an implementation plan out the NDP, and that might get us somewhere,”. The criticism can be interpreted as exposing the known incompetence of the ANC-led government’s failure to translate policies into programs.
As stated in my opening, avision without a plan is bound to fail. The question remains whether the NDP dream is still alive or fading. Or is it a possibility that the ANC’s commitment to the NDP is merely a rhetoric and political strategy to maintain relevance, akin to other famous political slogans like “Radical Economic Transformation”?
The above reflects the ANC’s non-intention of rebuilding this country’s economy but is only concerned about its renewal, so they may elect each other and loot what is left of this failing state.
Today’s ANC lacks a moral compass and has deviated from the initial goal, which was genuinely founded in our nation’s common will and freedom charter. Our country is today influenced by a political party whose individual desires have taken priority over the goals and interests of the entire country.
Our country is confronting challenges and stagnation because of this priority of self-interest over the nation‘s well-being. With everything that has happened and still happening in this country, one cannot stop thinking/reflecting on the words of Nelson Mandela when he said, “If the ANC does to you what the Apartheid government did to you, then you must do to the ANC what you did to the Apartheid government.”Perhaps we have forgotten the words of the former president because, by now, our living conditions have reached a point where “enough is enough.”
As we approach the much-anticipated general elections in 2024, our primary responsibility as South African citizens is to reflect on a future beyond the African National Congress (ANC). The extent of incompetence and endemic corruption within the ANC-led government runs exceedingly deep and is beyond control. The death of the ANC will pave the way for a more competitive and highly contested political and ideological landscape in South Africa. However, the question is, do we have an alternative?
Vusumzi Gqalane is currently a University of the Free State Master’s degree candidate in Governance and PoliticalTransformation and writes in his personal capacity.
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