12 May 2010
Mr Speaker
His Excellency, President J G Zuma
Deputy President, KP Motlanthe
Honourable ministers
Honourable members
Ladies and gentlemen
The National Planning Commission held its inaugural meeting on Monday and Tuesday this week. It has taken us a long time to get to this point, a process that started with our appointment as ministers last May. In my first budget vote speech last year, I outlined the need for a planning commission, what a planning commission could do, what role it could play in the policy arena and how it could contribute towards both better planning and greater coherence in government.
In August, we brought to this house a draft Green Paper on National Strategic Planning. Following an extensive debate and public consultation process, we released a revised Green Paper in January this year.
Honourable Speaker, through this process, we have arrived at a consensus on the nature and type of planning commission we seek, on the role of the commission, on the type of commissioners and broadly on the areas that the planning commission would cover. Allow me to summarise what we have agreed to. We have established a National Planning Commission in the first instance, to attempt to produce a unifying vision and strategic plan for the country that has broad buy-in across all sectors of society and yet retains the ability to confront the critical trade-offs and challenges we face over the next twenty years. The work of the planning commission is meant to sharpen the focus of government, to use a long term lens to obtain greater policy coherence in government, to independently and critically appraise our policies and conduct in-depth research on how best we can achieve our objectives.
We have chosen a commission of external commissioners, comprising largely of experts, tasked with advising government on issues relating to the long term development trajectory of the country.
In January this year, the president invited the public to nominate people to the National Planning Commission. We received an overwhelming response with 1280 nominees. The calibre of the people nominated was exceptionally high; clearly the opportunity to participate in so great a calling saw the nomination of some of our country’s best minds.
Besides the fact that there are hundreds of very skilled and experienced South Africans, the nomination process also showed the willingness of these smart and skilled South Africans to play a role in shaping our collective future. I would like to thank every person who allowed him-or herself to be nominated. The sheer scale and quality presented the President with a daunting challenge to select a few.
After careful consideration of the list of nominees and the expertise required on the commission, the president announced the names of 25 commissioners on 30 April 2010. Amongst the 25 is Mr Cyril Ramaphosa who has been appointed as deputy chairperson and who brings knowledge and experience to the commission that has helped shape the trade union movement, our Constitution, this Parliament, the business sector and NGO’s.
The participation of commissioners and the quality of discussions at our first meeting earlier this week confirmed unequivocally that we not only have amongst the nation’s top experts in a variety of disciplines but that we also have a single team of highly motivated people of the highest integrity who want to operate together as a single commission, regardless of who nominated them. All share a common commitment to see South Africa becoming a better place in the future, a country that we will be increasingly proud of as a place where we want our children to live and thrive in.
In welcoming the commissioners yesterday, the President pledged the full support of Cabinet and the Presidency for the work of the commission. He went on to say, and I quote,
* The mandate of the commission is to take a broad, cross cutting, independent and critical view of South Africa, to help define the South Africa we seek to achieve in 20 years time and to map out a path to achieve those objectives.
* The Commission is expected to put forward solid research, sound evidence and clear recommendations for government.
* The Commission will also work with broader society to draw on the best expertise, consult the relevant stakeholders and help to shape a consensus on what to do about the key challenges facing us.
* The National Planning Commission will revitalise the work of government. By drawing on the best available expertise the Commission will be able to identify and confront challenges head-on. The Commission need not be apologetic, it must act with frankness.
* Government has often taken a sectoral and short-term view that has hampered development. Taking a long-term and independent view will add impetus, focus and coherence to our work.
* This will no doubt lead to an improved performance in government. By involving wider society in its work it will rally the nation around a common vision.
* Vision 2025 will muster the views of all South Africans so that we can all participate in the realisation of the South Africa we want to live in.
* The establishment of the National Planning Commission is our promise to the people of South Africa that we are building a state that will grow the economy, reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of our citizens. South Africa is divided into two countries, one of extreme poverty and the other of extreme riches; we need to solve this problem.”
We are immensely honoured, humbled and privileged to be given such a broad mandate and such strong encouragement at the point where we start our work. The President went on to say that the commission is not a commission of any political party. It is a commission of all of South Africa, there to represent all citizens. He appealed to the commissioners to be brave and bold in criticising government, without fear or favour, to do this is a way that helps build a better society, free of poverty and inequality.
It is a measure of brave and bold leadership to give such an enthusiastic mandate to a grouping outside of Cabinet. On behalf of all of the National Planning commission, I would like to thank you, Mr President.
Honourable members, the commissioners were at one in saying that Parliament should play a role in facilitating a dialogue both on the vision and on the national plan. Drawing on the positive role played by Parliament in getting consensus around the Green Paper, we are of the view that Parliament is suitably placed to bring together diverse views from all walks of society to enrich the work of the commission and of government in general. I will engage with the Speaker and Chairperson of the NCOP to explore ways of facilitating this process on a permanent basis.
Our intention, as the commission, is to produce a draft vision and a national plan for Cabinet within 18 months and we will, on an ongoing basis, produce reports on cross cutting issues that have an impact on our long term development. We will also respond to specific requests from Cabinet from time to time.
At an administrative level, we are in the process of developing the capacity to support the work of the commission. We are building a small, professional and capable secretariat that would add value to both the work of the commission and to the Office of the Presidency in general.
We should remind ourselves that in trying to do better, in working differently, we have two new ministers in The Presidency. A Minister in the Presidency responsible for the National Planning Commission is the one and Minister Chabane, who is tasked with Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, is the other. At both ministerial level and at the level of the secretariat, we are working closely with the Ministry and Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation. Our work is interconnected in several respects.
We will support their work in shaping priorities, in developing indicators and in producing evidence of what is working and what is not working and similarly, they will support our work through the role that they play in developing outcomes, performance agreements and delivery agreements.
In conclusion, Honourable Speaker, I would like to thank both the President and the Deputy President for the support that they have given us in our work over the past year. We know that once we get into the nuts and bolts of our work, we will call on their support and inspiration more frequently. I also wish to thank the staff in the ministry and in the presidency for the hard work that they do in making our country a better place.
Thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
12 May 2010
Source: The Presidency (http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please Leave a message