SA's five-year building block

Written by Albert Pule

Government has called on all South Africans to support the new five-year plan to move the country forward and improve lives.

Speaking at the launch of the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, said the implementation of the plan cannot be done by government alone.

“The implementation requires involvement of all sectors of society and an active citizenry. In addition to implementing the MTSF within government, we will pay attention to building partnerships across society to achieve the goals of the National Development Plan (NDP).

“We call on all stakeholders to work together with us in this regard,” said Minister Radebe.

The MTSF is a roadmap for the new administration to implement the NDP.

Through this document, government will build on the work that began in 1994 and ensure that there is economic transformation.

The MTSF lists the priorities that government will focus on in the next five years.

Priority Outcomes
The MTSF is structured around 14 priority outcomes, which cover the focus areas identified in the NDP.

In each of the outcomes, the framework outlines goals, indicators, targets, actions, and responsibilities.

Some of the areas that the MTSF will focus on include competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network, sustainable rural communities, sustainable human settlements, as well as accountable, effective and efficient local government.

Basic education

Government has set clear targets under this priority including achieving 100 per cent Grade R coverage, and 50 per cent of Grade 12 learners achieving 50 per cent or more in mathematics and physical science.

The plan also targets an increase in the headcount enrolments at Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges to 1,24 million and an increase in the percentage of university academic staff with doctorates from 38 per cent to 46 per cent.

Healthy lifestyles for all

Various targets for improving the health of the population have been set and among those targets is to raise life expectancy to at least 63 years; ensure that the generation of under-20s is largely free of HIV, and reduce the burden of disease.

Rural development and land reform

The strategy for rural areas includes improving land administration and spatial planning for integrated development, improving food security and increasing access to quality basic infrastructure and services.

For government to achieve the set targets, specific actions will be taken, among these is to develop and implement spatial development plans to guide how land is used, while prioritising the 27 resource-poor district municipalities.

Secondly, to acquire two million hectares of strategically located under-utilised land for land reform and thirdly, to bring into production one million hectares of land in communal areas and land reform projects.

Decent employment

The MTSF will focus on creating decent employment through inclusive growth; a skilled and capable workforce to support an inclusive growth path, as well as an efficient, competitive and responsive economic infrastructure network.

“These areas set out the core objectives, the major challenges that have been identified and programmes and actions to be implemented during the 2014-2019 period,” said Minister Radebe.