Deputy Minister Buti Manamela: Fifth International Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Keynote address by the Deputy Minister in The Presidency Mr Buti Manamela to the Fifth International Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in Pretoria, Gauteng

Programme Director: Dr Ntsiki Tshayingca-Mashiya
Members of the South African National Planning Commission
Acting Director-General of DPME, Mr Tshediso Matona
The Statistician General, Dr Pali Lehohla
Distinguished guests from fellow African countries
Representatives the co-hosts: the World Bank and CLEAR-AA
Delegates from all national departments and Offices of the Premier
Media fraternity
Ladies and gentlemen

It is with great honour and pleasure to welcome you in this gathering on behalf of the Ministry in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. We host these events on an annual basis to meet the need for knowledge sharing, learning and mutual engagement between the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) of South Africa and its counterparts from fellow African countries and globally on the topics of common interest.

Allow me to extend a special word of welcome to our guests from the following countries: Benin, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Seychelles, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, as well as Embassies of Cuban and Egypt.  We are greatly honoured by your presence in South Africa. I hope you will be able to share and learn from ours and each other’s experiences. As a new democracy, South Africa stands to learn more from you given your vast experience in implementing a range of development programmes over the years.

It is fitting that this year’s theme is about: “How can national development planning and monitoring and evaluation best make a difference?”  I urge you all to relax and be ready to discuss openly and learn from both achievements and challenges that were experienced by all countries represented here and use those lessons to make a difference in the lives of the people.

Background to South Africa’s National Development Plan

In 2012 South Africa adopted the National Development Plan (NDP) and Vision 2030 as a long-term plan, not only for government, but for the whole of the society.  The implications of this plan are not merely for our country, but also for our beloved continent, Africa, and the rest of the world since one of our key NDP goals is to create a better South Africa that contributes to a better Africa and a better world.

We are part and parcel of the new development programme for Africa, “Agenda 2063”, which champions the following “aspirations for the Africa we want”, namely:

  1. “A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development;
  2. An integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan Africanism and the vision of Africa’s renaissance;
  3. An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law;
  4. A peaceful and secure Africa;
  5. An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics;
  6. An Africa where development is people-driven, unleashing the potential of its women and youth; and
  7. Africa as a strong, united and an influential global player.”

This new vision for Africa should inform our actions and how we work together to improve the human condition in our beloved continent today.

Ladies and gentlemen: the South African NDP is aligned to this development agenda. In terms of its development, our NDP was adopted after a series of processes were embarked upon, which were formally started by the establishment of the first National Planning Commission (NPC) by the President. The NPC conducted intensive diagnostic research and extensive public consultations which culminated to the development and subsequent adoption of the NDP by the joint sitting of Parliament. The unanimous adoption of the NDP by all political parties in Parliament ensured that the plan is legitimately seen as a long-term vision and plan for all South Africans.

The NDP requires all sectors of our society to unite in fighting the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment through various policies and programmes. In specific terms, the NDP enjoins us to:

  • Eradicate absolute poverty – from 39% of people living below the poverty line of R419 (2009 prices) to zero.
  • Reduce unemployment rate to 6% – by creating 11 million more jobs by 2030.
  • Significantly reduce inequality from 0.69 to 0.60 gini-coefficient by 2030.

The NDP sets long-term goals and targets to be achieved by 2030 in each sector as well as policy proposals on how to achieve the goals. For instance, as part of our youth policy custodianship role, we moved quickly to consult extensively on the National Youth Development Policy and ensured that it is fully aligned with the NDP by prioritising actions that will help address youth unemployment and other challenges facing young people in our country.

Furthermore, we expect and urge all spheres of government and non-governmental stakeholders to develop their own mechanisms of ensuring that the NDP and Vision 2030 become a reality.

I am delighted that, for the first time, all offices of the Premier and all national departments were invited to be part of this knowledge sharing workshop.

The role of Monitoring and Evaluation and Statistics in NDP implementation

For us to know if the plan is fully implemented, we need to measure specific actions that contribute towards the implementation of the NDP.  We use monitoring and evaluation, as well as official statistics from Statistics South Africa, to generate evidence that is analysed to understand whether we are making any progress in achieving our development goals and also unpack reasons why certain problems exist.

The statistical and M&E evidence is also used to understand performance at various levels, ensure accountability and value for money, and most importantly, we use that evidence to devise new interventions to address problems and unlock blockages in service delivery.

The Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF 2014-2019) serves as our strategy to implement the NDP during the five years of this political administration. The following are our 14 priority outcomes that are based on the various chapters of the NDP.

For purposes of monitoring NDP implementation, each of these priority outcomes contains specific indicators, targets and roles and responsibilities of various ministries. DPME provides overall co-ordination, and for each outcome there is a Coordinating Minister who takes lead in ensuring that the relevant priority is taken forward with all stakeholders.

The President entered into performance agreements with each of the ministers to ensure that they are accountable for commitments made on the MTSF.

Monitoring reports are submitted on a quarterly basis to Cabinet via the Implementation Forums, and decisions are taken at an Executive level to continuously guide and accelerate implementation of the NDP.

DPME is also responsible for guiding all national departments and provinces in terms of aligning departmental strategic plans and annual performance plans to the NDP imperatives contained in the MTSF. Again, quarterly and annual reporting is done, which is independently audited by the Office of the Auditor-General and presented to Parliament as part of its oversight and accountability roles.

Other kinds of monitoring that we implement in collaboration with the Offices of the Premier include the assessment of management practices at national, provincial and local government levels; assessment of the quality of service delivery at frontline government facilities such as clinics, schools, police stations. 

Citizen-based monitoring, and more recently, the performance management system of the Directors-General and Heads of Departments also form part of our monitoring efforts.

The National Evaluation System and research work of DPME is used to provide in-depth analysis of specific aspects of NDP/MTSF in order to inform further policy development and implementation. The National Evaluation Plans, Provincial Evaluation Plans and Departmental Evaluation Plans contain strategic evaluations that are prioritised for a certain period. Currently, the National Evaluation Plan contains more than 50 evaluations of national importance. Completed evaluations are being used extensively to improve programmes, policies and operations in government.

We also have a set of special projects that we implement such as the 30-Day Payment of Suppliers, Operation Phakisa, the Presidential Hotline and other similar interventions. I understand that the programme of today contains more detailed presentations on the NDP and some of the DPME programmes that I have already alluded to.

We are making a lot of progress in implementing the NDP and there are still many challenges ahead since our long-term targets are quite stretched.

Concluding remarks

Ladies and gentlemen: As the world renowned icon Fidel Castro once said in June 1961 when addressing a meeting of Cuban intellectuals:

“We are not making a revolution for the generations to come, we are making a revolution with this generation and for this generation, independently of the fact that it benefits future generations and may become a historic event.

We are not making a revolution for posterity; this revolution will be important to posterity because it is a revolution for today; and for the men and women of today.”

In other words, we are not merely championing development for generations to come, we are implementing development interventions with this generation and for this generation, independently of the fact that our development programmes will benefit future generations and may become a historic exercise. Our develop agenda – as embodied in the NDP and Vision 2030 in South Africa, Agenda 2063 in the African Union, and the Sustainable Development Goals in the global community – will be important to posterity because we are implementing them today; and for the men and women of today.

Our actions should be imbued with a revolutionary spirit that is not complacent with the present, but always seeks to collectively devise better solutions and interventions to overcome underdevelopment in our respective countries today.

I like the development experience of Cuba which was led by Fidel Castro, since they demonstrate resilience against severe economic hardships. The Development Index by the United Nations Development Programme and other global development indicators shows that Cuba is among the best in the world in key social development indicators. For example, Cuban’s adult literacy is 99.8%, life expectancy at birth is 80 years, infant mortality rate is 5 per 1000 live births and HIV Prevalence is 0.2%.

I believe that one of the possible reasons behind this massive achievement is the revolutionary attitude of the Cuban people and their leadership, which did not postpone development of the poor, but developed practical programmes that made Cuba to be a net exporter of doctors to poverty stricken areas around the world, including to South Africa. There is indeed something that we can learn from this comparative developing country as African governments in relation to national development that makes a difference. I also believe that as you are gathered here there are specific success stories that you will be able to share from your own countries.

I would like to conclude by posing a few questions that I think are critical for us to reflect on, namely:

  1. Why are our governments not getting adequate value for money from our investments in education, health, and other areas of socio-economic development?
  2. What are the key success factors for translating long-term development plans and visions into successful programmes and projects?
  3. How do we overcome some of the binding constraints that impede economic development and growth in our continent?
  4. How do we ensure institutionalisation of planning and M&E at subnational level, especially at community level?
  5. How do we strengthen Africa’s statistical capacity and data systems to generate evidence for better decision-making and implementation of development plans?

In those few words, I thank you for being part of the “5th International Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation”.

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