The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) invited a wide range of participants to its two-day Three Spheres Planning: Delineating Key Priorities for Consideration and Implementation during the final year of the sixth Dispensation seminar, which is currently underway in Parliament. One such participants was the Deputy Chairperson of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Prof Tinyiko Maluleke.
Speaking about how the objectives of the National Development Plan (NDP) have been undermined, Prof Maluleke pointed to intergovernmental inefficiencies in planning and implementation. Long-term planning needs to become law, he argued, and the NPC should be made more authoritative and accountable. In addition, state capacity to coordinate infrastructure planning and investment, along with interventions to mitigate climate change need to improve. These weaknesses hamper the NDP’s developmental objectives.
“There is a need to facilitate the implementation of capabilities across government and social sectors that would professionalise public service,” Prof Maluleke recommended. He also called for a stakeholder mapping session to create coherent coordination across all spheres of government to achieve the NDP’s priorities in a holistic and integrated manner.
Also participating in the session, the Chairperson of the Fiscal and Financial Commission, Dr Nombeko Mbava, said stronger and sustainable fiscal and governance frameworks are needed to attain service delivery outcomes, efficiency and accountability. This should be complemented by ensuring symmetric financial and institutional human capacity to establish a single capacity building and development framework and programmes.
She blamed political interference and a lack of consequence management in government for the increase in irregular and wasteful expenditure. Credible financial reporting, political stability, capacity building and the recruitment of skilled personnel would combat this and promote a culture of good financial and consequence management, she concluded.
The Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Parks Tau, who also participated in the session, said in his view a streamlined and efficient District Development Model would help to align policy in all local municipalities and would have a big impact on the ground. “This will address the multiple-prong approach currently in place, root out incompetencies and come up with sound fiscal discipline.”
He also pointed out that R6 billion is allocated to municipalities to optimise fiscal management each year, but sadly South Africa is yet to see value for money for this allocation. However, his department will soon gazette a code of conduct and regulations aimed at instilling ethical leadership. The department is also drafting amendments to the Local Government Structure Act to instill stability and regulations governing coalitions, so that rules and regulations governing coalitions are put in place to ensure unstable coalitions do not impact negatively on service delivery.
Abel Mputing
30 March 2023
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