Developing South Africa

President Jacob Zuma has assured citizens that the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 is being implemented and that the monitoring of service delivery is taken very seriously by government.

He discussed this and other issues in a Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) radio interview recently, which was broadcast by community radio stations across the country and allowed people in more rural areas access to the President.

The NDP is a detailed blueprint of how South Africa can eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. “The NDP deals with the country holistically and many things are discussed in it, including education, which is absolutely crucial for any country to develop,” said President Zuma.

Over the past year government has made progress in the implementation of the Nine-Point Plan, which is an action plan to deliver on the socio-economic goals stated in the NDP.

President Zuma explained that the NDP will enable South Africa to achieve prosperity in a certain period of time.

“For example, we have people who depend on grants. We are looking forward to a point where we deal with this issue. We should try to reduce the number of people needing grants by empowering them so that at a given time they are able to be participants in the life and economy of the country.”

He explained that the NDP is a developmental plan. “We don't want to see people in rural areas rushing to cities. They should have everything they need, including good schools and hospitals, in the areas where they live. This is why the NDP is a product of the people – everyone participates in developing the plan and everyone agreed on it, so we are all working to achieve the same things.”

A caller from Centurion, in Tshwane, thanked President Zuma for the good work done by government in building houses in Olievenhoutbosch. Government has delivered more than 4.3 million houses and subsidies across the country since 1994. “We are still working hard on the problems that we have had for centuries, but I am glad that the community sees what we are doing,” said President Zuma.

Government established the Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure service delivery.

“This department needs to have offices in all provinces and municipalities so that we can make the department bigger and stronger and be everywhere we need to be to be able to talk to the people, monitor service delivery and report back.

"This way we will be able to immediately discover some of the problems, mistakes and people who might be doing wrong things because monitoring is one of the most important instruments of government.”