08 July 2025
Strengthening local social and economic development through the implementation of the District Development Model
The Presidency Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation plays a critical role of coordinating policy development and implementation. Through the National Planning Commission, government developed a National Development Plan, which set out a vision to tackle unemployment, poverty and reduce inequality.
We celebrate 70 years of our Freedom Charter with 31 years since our democratic breakthrough. In the 30 years of democracy review report produced by the department, the democratic gains where evident through the increase of access to basic services and the expansion of various social and economic services. Indeed, the vision shared by multitudes of South Africans in Kliptown have been cast in stone as a foundation and bedrock of our constitution.
Today, the majority of South Africans have access to housing, water, basic education, higher education, access to previously restricted professions, and expanded access to healthcare services,and social security for those who cannot support themselves .
By 2019, government built 3,2 million houses. In 2024, 73,1% of household members first consulted personnel at a Public Clinic or hospital while 25,3% turned to the private sector, and only 15.5% of individuals are covered by medical aid. By 2024, close to 100% of children up to the age of 15 years were in school to name a few achievements.
These milestones are a result of government planning, and policy implementation. National central planning provides a vision which focuses all social partners to national development objectives and our constitutional imperatives. Section 27 (2) of the constitution requires that “the state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to achieve the progressive realisation of each of these rights.”
This constitutional provision recognises the scarcity of resources, therefore planning should enhance the capacity and capabilities of government to allocate resources in an efficient and effective manner to attain our bill of rights and freedoms. Corruption and mismanagement undermines the people and we should combat it.
As we implement the Medium-Term Development Plan of the Government of National Unity, we should bear in mind that this is the last 5 year plan towards our 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and our own National Development Plan.
It is for this reason that the ANC Manifesto committed to take measures to place the path of government back on track to tackle poverty and unemployment and reduce poverty.
Honourable members, we believe that the National Dialogue led by the state and civil society will create a platform for all South Africans, from all walks of life to define the South Africa we want. The National Dialogue should mobilise all social partners to action, to resolve our deep inequality which continues to reproduce poverty and inequality. Without the efforts of all South Africans, our dreams as a nation will remain deferred. We dare not fail as a people.
The ANC calls all sections of our society to take part in the National Dialogue, and contribute to making lasting solutions which should shape the national vision of the country and measures government should take in the short term to deal with the multiple crisis impacting our society. We support the recommendation of the Committee that the National Planning Commission must undertake a thorough process to develop a new robust long-term plan for South Africa in the seventh administration.
Political Parties that call for the boycott of a National Dialogue, make us question their bona fide to this nation of Nelson Mandela.
Honourable Members, government is implementing the District Development Model as a mechanism to enhance implementation by leveraging the capabilities and resources of the national , provincial and local government to plan at a district level, and to optimise resources for increased outcomes and impact.
Through a one district, one plan and one budget approach, government will improve its service provision. We call on the department to ensure that all districts have their long term planning process as this is critical aspect to align planning by the public and private sector. Without a long term plan at a district level, the ability to develop relevant district plans will be undermined.
As members of the Portfolio Committee, we will be focusing on the accountability of the District Development Model implementation and we welcome the development of DDM focused indicators by Statistics South Africa.
We will also monitor the performance of DDM Champions, and assess the role and impact of the work they do, as they serve as critical enablers of harnessing joint planning and accountability.
Honourable Minister, one of the major areas which require the focus of the department is operational planning. The effectiveness of operational planning has a direct effect on the capability to implement, and spending reports from the National Treasury reflect patterns of underspending and fiscal dumping at the end of a financial year that are a results of weaknesses in operations.
In order to improve implementation, we must enhance operational planning. It is for this reason that the ANC recommends that the department should increase its focus on compliance of operational planning by all organs of the state. The quality of public expenditure is a matter of concern and we believe that leakages are in the operations.
Despite the major progress made by the democratic government, the period of state capture has stagnated and regressed various aspects of our public service. This is evident in the lack of reliable and affordable basic service provision, weaknesses in the security clusters and in our network industries.
This requires department to strengthen the its frontline services monitoring to enable an agile intervention by the Presidency. Frontline services are at the heart of the quality of public service provision, and the department should increase its capacity to resolve challenges impacting the people. This includes increasing access to the Presidential Hotline and increasing the problem resolution rate of all reported challenges. Through the District Imbizo’s by the President, government has been closer to the people and those efforts should be increased as they enable interventions.
We believe that a Presidency department, should have the agility to intervene and resolve challenges and in this regard, the interrelated coordination functioning of the Presidency is paramount.
At the core of our challenges as a country is a political economy that continues to reproduce colonial patterns of development. We must tackle spatial inequality and attract investments to rural areas and townships. We must transform the ownership patterns of the economy to allow women, youth and persons with disabilities to have equal opportunities and to be prioritise the marginalised black majority.
Public investment in the economy is not adequate to tackle the structural and systemic challenges impacting our society. Private investment is a critical driver of attaining our national objectives, and we call on the department to focus on mobilising and monitoring private sector resource allocation to meet national objectives. We must remember that privately held resources are also part of our national resources.
We must ensure that we position our National State Owned Companies to be catalysts of economic growth. Eskom is recovering, SAA, DENEL and SAFCOL are all profitable. Indeed, we are turning the corner, and urge the Ministry as the Shareholder Representative to further support the repositioning of our SOE’s as drivers of redistributive economic growth.
We must industrialise our economy to create jobs and leverage the changing world to create a better life for all.
The ANC Support Budget Vote 9