THE National Plan for South Africa is out! It is comprehensive, ambitious and laudable. It has the elements required to move the country forward. Unveiling the plan in Parliament yesterday National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel mentioned many things contained in the plan. Some sounded pretty obvious. But the important one is that the plan goes beyond the rhetoric. It sets targets. It suggest ways to meet targets on, among other things, jobs, growth, literacy and poverty.
Manuel and members of the National Planning Commission have done a wonderful job, putting together the plan. They would not have been able to had they not been honest about the problems we face as a nation.
The plan is based on six pillars. But it will not work if it does not get a buy-in from the government that established the planning commission. Of course, some of the suggestions will not sit well with those in government who have privatised public policy-making. They are now required to set their sights on the targets for the benefit of the country and not themselves.
The plan will not implement itself. The government will not do it alone. Nor will business, civil society and labour. What is required - and this is the most important pillar of the six - is active citizenship. Citizens must be responsible for their own progress and for that of the country. Otherwise the plan will be meaningless.
Source: The Sowetan
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