NATIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: Coordination, intergration and controversy

The Green Paper on National Strategic Planning, released in September 2009 by Minister in the Presidency Trevor Manuel, is a policy document in response to the ‘need for better long-term planning to inform shorter-term plans, resource allocation, trade-offs and the sequencing of policies'. Udesh Pillay and Lesego Mogami analyse the details.

The premise for a centralised planning institution emanates from discussions in review of governance over the past 15 years, which highlighted fragmentation and a lack of coherence and coordination on issues of governance and delivery. For example, the review revealed that there was no central body that coordinated the various sectoral interests and development plans of the three spheres of government, including the various line departments and ministries.

The national planning ministry and its various structures have therefore been mandated to address some of these critical gaps.

The Green Paper describes how the new strategic plan is to be defined; in this regard the national strategic planning process will be comprised of four components:

a National Planning Commission (NPC);
a ministerial committee on planning (located in cabinet);
a ministery of national planning; and
a national planning secretariat (located in the presidency).

It is envisaged that the national planning ministry, in conjunction with other ministries, would interact with broader societal stakeholders in the development and implementation of a national plan, with the minister providing the political direction to the planning process.

The review revealed that there was no central body that coordinated the various sectoral interests and development plans of the three spheres of government.

A proposed institutional arrangement for the strategic plain is illustrated below.

The NPC's mandate

It is proposed that an NPC would develop a national plan for South Africa in consultation with government and in partnership with broader society. The Commission would align the work of all departments of government and organs of state to a larger governmental agenda.

As a new framework for policy and delivery, the NPC will set out the institutional framework for planning and describe the outputs that need to derive from this planning process. The NPC is thus expected to take a lead in the development of a long-term, overarching strategic plan, and in assessing the risk thereof.

The minister for national planning will head the Commission and be the link between government and the body. He will draw the views and perspectives of government into the work of the Commission and, conversely, advise the Commission about the working of government.

The NPC is envisaged to be comprised of a number of experts and respected thinkers from various sectors, who will provide fresh insight into the development of a long-term strategic plan for South Africa. The idea is for the commissioners to be critical advisors to government and to represent the long-term aspirations of all South Africans for a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous future for the country. The president will appoint the commissioners and renew and update its mandate periodically.

The NPC, at this stage, will have four major outputs, which will shape policies and programmes, budgetary and resource allocations:

the creation of a National Plan: Vision 2025;
retention of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2009-2014 and the annual programme of action;
the commissioning and dissemination of research and reports on key trends and indicators; and
a set of draft frameworks for spatial planning.

This 2025 blueprint will spell out the vision and the long-term strategic plan of the government over the next 15 years, for example, how far poverty and inequality levels need to be reduced.

The MTSF, a five-year framework that identifies priorities and key programmes, will be bolstered to include high-level outcomes and targets for priority functions. The annual programme of action will be derived from the MTSF and will represent an annual statement of government's priorities.

The NPC will also release research and reports on key trends and indicators that have major macro-social implications, and that are critical for long-term planning. Finally, the NPC will produce the draft framework for the spatial dimensions of development. It is surmised that a spatial dimension to planning is critical to reversing the legacies of apartheid's administrative and policy consequences. Based on international best-practice experience, the spatial planning instrument will be increasingly used to pursue and achieve alignment in the delivery of government services.

The Commission will be supported by a secretariat based in the presidency.

Contested economic policy

Although the creation of the NPC was jointly conceived by the ANC and its alliance partners, the ongoing public dispute about its role, function and location highlights the historical differences over the direction of economic policy since 1994.

Contestation has centred around four elements, namely: (i) the choice of Trevor Manuel as the minister in charge; (ii) the balance of power between the NPC and the economic development ministry; (iii) the financing of the NPC; and (iv) what has been alleged to be the less than participatory nature of the process.

The role of the NPC in the run-up to the 2011 municipal elections is going to be interesting. It is ironic that the alliance partners, COSATU in particular, who mooted the idea of a centrally located planning function in the first place, have become its fiercest detractors. This may have a lot to do with what is perceived to be a likelihood on the part of the Commission - under Manuel's stewardship - to centralise economic policy and, consistent with the treasury's outlook, maintain prudent fiscal discipline in line with the Mbeki-era.

It is ironic that the alliance partners, COSATU in particular, who mooted the idea of a centrally located planning function in the first place, have become its fiercest detractors.

COSATU and the SACP have long been of the view that macro-economic policy in its completely market-orientated guise (particularly inflation targeting, capital-intensive growth and the privatisation of state assets) have done little for the poor and marginalised. The alliance partners have not hesitated to call for a thorough review of economic policy - including proposals for state-led growth in particular sectors and the nationalisation of key state assets - in line with the realisation of a development state.

President Zuma - recognising an imminent battle - immediately stepped in to redefine the role and responsibility of the NPC and, in a gesture that helped somewhat to attenuate the concerns of the alliance, excluded the NPC from government's economic cluster.

Economic policy, the president maintained, would be firmly entrenched in the treasury and the newly created economic development ministry, while the NPC went on with its business of providing the country with a long-term growth and development perspective.

But the 2011 elections aren't far away, and any compromise that is struck will be fragile. Against a backdrop of service delivery unrest in the country, government needs to deliver. Line-ministries will focus attention on key deliverables as their performance is carefully monitored, and local government will be renewed through an envisaged turn-around strategy.

The alliance partners may have a hand in changing the Reserve Bank's mandate so that economic policy is re-oriented. But ultimately, in keeping with the Mbeki era, we are likely to see a concentration of power in the presidency, this time under the auspices of the NPC. This fragmented state of affairs does not augur well for a longer-term growth and development strategy. But the possibilities are abundant if the political desire and willingness exists.

Dr Udesh Pillay is the executive director of the Centre for Service Delivery and Lesego Mogami is a master's intern in the same Centre.