The National Development Plan will be in the spotlight at the 2015 African National Congress (ANC) National General Council (NGC) conference taking place in Midrand, Johannesburg.
The forth NGC takes place two years after South Africa adopted the National Development Plans (NDP) and as the country marks 60 years since the adoption of the Freedom charter.
The NDP is South Africa’s blueprint for future plans that aim to build a better nation. The plan is working towards a more developed South Africa by the year 2030.
Tackling unemployment, land reform, fighting crime and corruption and improving education and health are some of the main topics that will be discussed at the 2015 ANC NGC meeting.
It has also been integrated in government’s MTSF (Medium Term Strategic Framework) and government aims to implement parts of the plan within five years from 2014 – 2019.
All these documents and resolutions of successive ANC conferences create a framework for the South Africa we envision – non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic and prosperous
Government aims to that some of the main milestones that government aims to accomplish by the years 2019 are included.
“All these documents and resolutions of successive ANC conferences create a framework for the South Africa we envision – non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic and prosperous; characterised by a transformed economy with inclusive growth and an effective and capable state that is decisive in its pursuit of structural change,” notes Chairperson of the ANC NEC Policy Sub-Committtee Jeff Radebe in a statement published leading up to the Congress.
So far, the ambitious National Development plan has been met with stumbling blocks along the way.
Unemployment
The national Development plan states:
“The unemployment rate should fall from 24.9 percent in June 2012 to 14 percent by 2020 and to 6 percent by 2030. This requires an additional 11 million jobs. Total employment should rise from 13 million to 24 million.”
According to the latest Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) Quarterly Employment Survey (QES) employment figures released in September, unemployment rose by 1.8% in the three months to June 2015.
The report notes how 161 000 people lost their jobs in the second quarter on 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.
READ: Unemployment on a rise: Stats SA report
Listen to: The number of unemployed people in South Africa has increased by 1.8% in the three months to June 2015.
Poverty
The ANC NGC is expected to discuss the high levels of poverty on South Africa.
Though there has been a significant drop in poverty levels, a recent report by Oxfam notes how half of South Africans live below the national poverty line.
More than 10% of the population still lives in extreme poverty according the report.
The world Bank in October revised South Africa’s 2015 growth forecast down to 1.5%, 1.7% for 2016 from 2% and for 2017 it has been revised from 2.4% to 2%. This could see South Africa struggling even more to pull itself from high poverty levels.
READ: More than half of South Africa’s population lives below poverty line
Crime and Corruption
The Crime rate in South Africa rose by 0.09% between from 2014 – 2015 according to latest statistics by the South African Police Service (SAPS)
A total of 2.206 million crimes were committed in 2015 and 2.204 million has been reported in 2014.
Of the 27 crime categories stated by the police, only 11 of them decreased between 2014 and 2015.
Murder saw a rise for three years in a row in SA.
WATCH: Gareth Newham on crime stats
– By
