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Budget Speech, 2013

The National Development Plan: a new trajectory

 

 

The NDP, supported by the New Growth Path and other programmes, invites us to look beyond the constraints of the present to the transformation imperatives of the next twenty and thirty years.

These imperatives are already apparent in the realities of the social and economic restructuring that is under way.

 

• The first reality is our demographic transition – a million young people leave school every year, and we need a package of reforms that will improve education, training and work opportunities for young people.
• The second is that we are a rapidly urbanising society. This means we need to meet urgent demand for housing, municipal services, schools, clinics, public transport and commercial development, but it is also means we have an opportunity to build an integrated urban landscape, with effective partnerships between municipalities, local businesses and civic associations.
• A third imperative is economic competitiveness. We need to invest in infrastructure, raise productivity and diversify our economy, to create jobs and raise living standards.
• Improving the quality of education and training is an essential foundation of a more productive and inclusive growth path.
• Stronger links with Africa and other emerging economies are needed.
• We have to adapt to a low-carbon economy, including mobilisation of our renewable energy potential.
• Finally there is the social solidarity challenge that cuts across all of these, which is to build a more equal and inclusive economy that bridges our racial and other divides.

 

These are themes on which the NDP provides clear guidance, not just about strategic goals and objectives, but also about the practical difficulties and choices we face.

 

There are substantial strengths on which to build – a well-established legal system, secure property rights, an effective tax system, world-class higher education institutions and science councils, established energy, transport, water and communications infrastructure networks, expertise and capacity in many areas - mining, construction, retail, finance, logistics and manufactured exports – and a sound macroeconomic and fiscal framework.

 

While building on these strengths, we have to tackle our weaknesses aggressively. The NDP emphasises key institutional capabilities:

 

• The need to professionalise the public service and strengthen accountability,
• Improved management and enforcement systems to fight corruption,
• Reinforcement of the education accountability chain, with lines of responsibility from state to classroom,
• Improved planning and management of strategic infrastructure projects.

 

The NDP also highlights the need to lower the cost of living for households, and to reduce the cost of doing business for small and emerging enterprises.

 

Let me also reiterate the NDP’s emphasis on uniting South Africans around a common vision: it proposes a social compact to reduce poverty and inequality, and raise employment and investment, recognising that progress towards a more equal society requires shared efforts across the public and private sectors.

 

And so the 2013 Budget takes the National Development Plan as its point of departure.

 

• It recognises that our medium-term plans are framed in the context of a long-term vision and strategy.
• It focuses on strengthening growth and employment creation.
• It prioritises improvements in education and expansion of training opportunities.
• It promotes progress towards a more equal society and an inclusive growth path.