Pretoria – Nominations for members of the new National Planning Commission (NPC) will soon open as the term of office of the current commission draws to an end.
The term of office of the current NPC, which was established in 2009, will come to the end in May this year, said the Presidency on Monday.
NPC chairperson Jeff Radebe, who is the Minister for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency, will soon call for nominations for the new NPC, whose members are appointed by the President.
NPC members will need to have skills including infrastructure development, urban and regional planning, energy, agriculture and food security, education and training, health, public policy and governance, community engagement, economics, finance, budgeting and banking, ICT, telecommunications and broadcasting, business and industry, water and sanitation, science and technology, social cohesion and nation building, futures research and scenario planning, climate change and youth development.
“In 2009, the NPC was asked by the President to take a broad, cross-cutting, independent and critical view of South Africa to help define the development status we seek to achieve as a nation in 20 years’ time and to map out a path to achieve those objectives,” said the Presidency.
The commission developed the landmark National Development Plan (NDP) after extensive consultation with South Africans from all walks of life.
“The plan is our inspiration. It constantly reminds us of what type of society we can be by 2030, which is why we have begun working systematically to achieve that goal within government,” said President Zuma.
Through providing a set of guiding principles, the Presidency said the NPC has helped government put together the first five-year plan to implement the NDP and the Medium Term Strategic Framework for 2014-2019, which is the programme of action of government for the next five years.
“All the work that government is doing between now and 2019 is practically the implementation of the NDP. We urge business and other sectors to also institutionalise the NDP in their planning processes and programmes so that we can move the country forward together,” said the President.
In the State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2015, the President announced that Operation Phakisa will also be utilised to unlock the potential of the country’s mining sector, especially with regards to beneficiation.
The Presidency deems Operation Phakisa as one of the most innovative NDP implementation programmes in government, which is being implemented to unlock the ocean economy and improve the functioning of clinics. - SAnews.gov.za
