Page 22 - Service Delivery Review

National Development Plan and State Capacity Conference

The NDP Review reveals that there has been slow These include the strengthening of institutional gov-
progress in implementing the NDP recommendations, ernance by ensuring that:
which has aggravated the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. The result is that South Africa continues • Appointments of management and boards
to underperform on several targets, particularly those must be made in line with acceptable cor-
relating to reducing poverty, unemployment and in- porate governance norms.
equality. Overall, the foundations for a capable state • Internal accountability must be improved.
have been laid for Professionalising the Public Sector
as a strategic intervention towards building state ca- In 2020, the President established the Presidential
pacity. State-Owned Enterprises Council (PSEC) to advise
the government on repositioning SOEs. However, the
High-level policy and legislative changes performance and inability of most SOEs to achieve
Cabinet’s approval of the National Framework to- their developmental mandate are still hampered by
wards the Professionalisation of the Public Sector the lack of implementation capacity, which is wors-
is a significant step towards building state capacity. ened by rampant corruption. The completion of the
At the same time, the approval of proposed mea- work of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of
sures to strengthen the capacity and capability of State Capture, or the Zondo Commission, has come
the Directors-General (DG) in the Public Service is up with wide-ranging recommendations on SOEs. In
noteworthy. It includes reviewing the tenure of DGs the main, the Zondo Commission’s recommendations
and the management of delegations by the Exec- reiterate the imperative for stabilising the SOEs.
utive Authority to the accounting officers. In line
with these changes is a proposal that the DG in Leveraging private and civil society sectors
The Presidency will be designated as the Head of The objectives outlined in the NDP Chapter 13 re-
Public Administration to deal with the political-admin- main valid. This calls for renewed efforts to build
istrative interface, among other responsibilities. strong institutions to underpin the state’s capacity to
formulate and implement developmental policies and
Coupled with these changes are two key legislative programmes, integrate all plans, and mobilise society
initiatives: the Public Service Amendment Bill (2021) behind the NDP. Likewise, the years before 2030 re-
and the Public Service Commission Bill (2022). These quire the state to continue in its efforts to empower
proposed pieces of legislation write into law the rec- citizens to develop capabilities to improve their own
ommendations of the NDP. Another significant step lives while intervening to correct historical inequali-
towards building state capacity was the President ties. The NDP is a country plan and requires the con-
signing the Municipal Systems Amendment Bill into tribution of all. For this reason, building a truly capa-
law. ble, ethical and developmental state not only requires
strong leadership, an active citizenry and effective
According to the NDP, State-Owned Enterprises government. The country’s diverse private and civil
(SOEs) have a developmental mandate, so the plan society sectors should also be leveraged towards this
proposed sweeping reforms in their governance. end.

22 SERVICE DELIVERY REVIEW | Volume 15. No. 3 of 2023