Cape Town – Government departments have a duty to ensure that the commitments arising from the State of the Nation Address are actually put into action, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Obed Bapela said.
President Jacob Zuma delivered his address to a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday
“We need to ensure that we respond to the issues the President has mentioned in a government programme of action,” he said, in reaction to the speech.
The speech was the first to be delivered under the context of the National Development Plan, which has been adopted by Cabinet.
“I think the President has really dealt with what the National Development Plan is about and as far as the kind of South Africa that we all hope for. He has called for partnership because government alone cannot succeed unless all of us carry the plan forward,” said Bapela.
“All of us from national government, provincial and local need to ask ourselves whether is there coordination in the implementation of this particular plan.”
Earlier Zuma noted that the NDP outlined interventions that can put the economy on a better footing. The target for job creation is set at 11 million by 2030.
“In my last meeting with the business community, the sector indicated that for the economy to grow threefold, we must remove certain obstacles.
“We will engage business, labour and other social partners in pursuit of solutions. No single force acting individually can achieve the objectives we have set for ourselves,” he said.
But Bapela emphasised the need for stronger monitoring to realise the results envisaged in the plan.
“In the performance and monitoring section our role would be to develop a model that we can begin to use and fortunately the Director General in the presidency has already developed that model of monitoring coordination and implementation,” Bapela said. - SAnews
