The National Development Plan
What is South Africa going to look like come 2030! One must understand that our country is not run on instant decisions and spur of the moment choices, but by planning and dedication to making the lives of South African people a much more pleasant journey. Some believe that planning and dedication do not exist in the government today one cannot justify or overrule this statement by simply watching on the surface! Good day to one and all my aim for today is to educate and inform you about the NDP (National Development Plan).
Recently meetings regarding such plans were held in Cape Town and the plans for our beloved Country from 2013 to 2030 have already been finalised. I assure you the information I share with you today is not only legit but accurate and important! The NDP is an outline of the plans the government has for our country in these plans we see the direction that our country will take, whether South Africa will see brighter or questionable future in the days ahead. The vision statement set out by our government is long and promising but as the question arises in all our minds will our government deliver on their promises and plans.
In the vision statement many issues are touched on, issues like how we arrived at our first democratic election, how far we have come from the time of that election, how communities should communicate and how the people of South Africa should hold up their flags proudly because they believe in their country! They speak about economic freedom and how we will all live better lives, lives that are enriched by the fruits of our labour and how we will benefit from our effort put into our beautiful country.
You may say our government has been promising and not delivering for a very long time but I say to you look at how far we have come at how much we have grown, if not for changes and disputes our country would not have matured we would have not had the opportunity to say as a country and a nation as a family that we have made it this far and we are going even further. “It’s our future Make it Work, South Africa belongs to its entire people. We, the people, belong to one another. We live as a rainbow. Our homes, neighbourhoods, villages, towns, and cities are safe and filled with laughter. Through our institutions, we order our lives.
The faces of our children tell of the future we have crafted” – that is the extract from the overview of the NDP. In short the government promises us a blissful life, one without interruptions and problems. The national Development Plan aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people. President Jacob Zuma appointed the National Planning Commission in May 2010 to draft a vision and NDP. The commission is an advisory body consisting of 26 people drawn largely from outside areas due to their experience in their fields.
The report from June 2011 had found major short comings and failure to implement policies as well as an absence of broad partnership as the main reasons for slow progress, and set out nine primary challenges:
- Too few people work
- The quality of school education for black people is poor
- Infrastructure is poorly located, in adequate and under-maintained
- Space divided by the difficulties experienced in infrastructure and development
- The economy is unsustainably resource intensive
- The public health system cannot meet demand or sustain quality
- public services are uneven and often of poor quality
- corruption levels are high
- South Africa remains a divided society
Some estimated facts the government expect in future:
- Increase employment from 13 million in 2010 to 24 million in 2030.
- Raise per capita income from R50 000 in 2010 to R120 000 by 2030.
- Increase the share of national income of the bottom 40 percent from 6 percent to 10 percent.
- Establish a competitive base of infrastructure, human resources and regulatory frameworks.
- Ensure that skilled, technical, professional and managerial posts better reflect the country’s racial, gender and disability makeup. Broaden ownership of assets to historically disadvantaged groups.
- Increase the quality of education so that all children have at least two years of preschool education and all children in grade 3 can read and write.
- Provide affordable access to quality health care while promoting health and wellbeing.
- Establish effective, safe and affordable public transport.
- Produce sufficient energy to support industry at competitive prices, ensuring access for poor households, while reducing carbon emissions per unit of power by about one-third. Ensure that all South Africans have access to clean running water in their homes.
- Make high-speed broadband internet universally available at competitive prices.
- Realise a food trade surplus, with one-third produced by small-scale farmers or households.
- Ensure household food and nutrition security.
- Entrench a social security system covering all working people, with social protection for the poor and other groups in need, such as children and people with disabilities.
- Realise a developmental, capable and ethical state that treats citizens with dignity. Ensure that all people live safely, with an independent and fair criminal justice system.
- Broaden social cohesion and unity while redressing the inequities of the past.
- Play a leading role in continental development, economic integration and human rights.
As we now know, our Leaders have made promises that we can only hope and pray they keep to. Latching onto the leadership so that South Africa will become a nation without fault but a stronger unit an unbreakable family and it all starts with you!!!
