IF YOU attended the ANC conference in Mangaung in 2012, you will share the view that the National Development Plan (NDP) was welcomed with a warm reception by the delegates who received the presentation.
Drawn up by the National Planning Commission, headed by Trevor Manuel, the former minister in the presidency, the plan aims to ensure that all South Africans attain a decent standard of living through the elimination of poverty and reduction of inequality. This makes it a plan without discrimination. It is tailored to include all South Africans whose standard of living does not evoke a sense of pride in the governing party.
More importantly, the plan picks up from the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP).
Reconstruction is the term applied to the restoration of something. To achieve the full practice of reconstruction, the old figure must be destroyed and then rebuilt. In South Africa this would refer to destroying the damages generated during apartheid and rebuilding a new nation. The RDP was launched by the ANC government in 1994. The programme was aimed at addressing the immense socio-economic problems facing South Africa then.
One of the key aspects underlying the RDP was that it linked reconstruction and development. This was because it recognised problems such as a lack of housing, a failing education system, a jobs shortage and a failing health-care system. These are all ultimately connected in the economy.
Now, if the NDP is going to become the “miracle” plan the National Planning Commission is hoping it will be for growing the economy and solving many of the nation’s problems, it must refer back to what has worked before.
It is not to be denied that the country has made major strides since becoming a full democracy in 1994. But failure to implement plans that are meant to bring about economic progression may be construed to mean that in many ways, South Africa is now going backwards.
Once this concept is understood by all citizens and their leaders, only then will the patriotic spirit of the ‘rainbow nation’ that wanted to see economic freedom for all come naturally. Among others, one significant lesson that we must take out of the RDP moving on into the NDP is the significance of implementation.
Having read an article published on the thought leader by Ian Dewar titled Bring Back RDP, it was almost impossible not to be absorbed by many of his opinions. In the article he states that the most significant thing about our new NDP is that the overview begins with a quotation from the White Paper on Reconstruction and Development. (Is this view maybe a little patronising towards the plan or, is it the truth we fear to speak?)
Dewar states that the greatest difference between the RDP and the NDP is that, while the RDP was big on the implementation strategy but very limited on specific objectives, the NDP is big on specific objectives but very limited on the implementation strategy. Is it not possible for the plan to succeed without an outline of how the country will work towards implementing the stated objectives?
According to Dewar: “The original ‘Rainbow spirit’ of the RDP has quite evidently been lost by the people on the ground, so now the community lacks the organisational inspiration and togetherness necessary to establish a worthwhile democratic process.”
On an optimistic note, it is crucial that we recognise that one of the main drivers of the NDP is a commitment to full employment. In economic terms, this means maximising the use and allocative efficiency of scarce resources within the economy.
When people talk about the problem of ‘expectations’, they mean that the black people who voted for the ANC in April 1994 did so in the belief that the political transformation represented by black majority rule would rapidly usher in a social and economic transformation as well.
Having won the vote, they expected from an ANC-dominated government jobs, houses, and schools as well. But commentators say these expectations are “unrealistic”. Instead the outcome of that win was tailored to be fair to all those who would be governed by the new ruling party. These were the results of the implementation of the RDP.
As much as many of us would like to attack the policy and its content, the government does admit though that it is not a perfect policy. Manual advocated that implementation was key to getting things started.
As many have already pointed out, the plan could use a lot of tweaking, but let us not knock it before we try it. It is up to us who can, to understand this plan and implement it within our abilities.
A fitting note from history – On June 26, 1955, 3 000 South Africans gathered in a dusty square in Kliptown and there a dream was declared: “The people shall govern.” It was announced in the Freedom Charter that there would be work, education and security for all. This is what economic freedom and advancement is about.
It should be noted that almost one-third of voters are too young to have any direct memory of the oppression of apartheid, or of the struggle against it. Their loyalty to the governing party is not as inevitable as that of their parents or grandparents.
It is up to those of us who know what South Africa is capable of achieving to give them a reason to remain patriotic. We can do this by committing to the NDP. This means implementing the objectives of the plan as learnt from the RDP. As organisations, we should all play our part in order to, as Mahatma Gandhi said, “become the change” we “want to see”. This of course refers to economic change.
If you have not learnt anything from this read, at least take this away with you: constructive criticism is ideal for a developing country with a developing economy. It would, however, be hypocritical and unbecoming to sit back and criticise from the bench. We need to get up and start implementing.
Tryphosa Ramano is the president of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals which is holding the group’s annual conference today. For more information visit: www.absip.co.za