15 January 2010
On 12 August 2009, Cabinet approved the release of the Green Paper: National Strategic Planning, for public consultation. Following an extensive consultative process involving Parliament, public comment and discussions in Cabinet, this Green Paper was revised. Today, we are releasing the revised Green Paper that was approved by Cabinet in December last year. The Green Paper is more limited in its focus, dealing exclusively with the work of the National Planning Commission.
It sets out what the NPC would do, how it would function and what support structures are proposed to help facilitate the work of the Commission. In summary, the NPC is tasked with producing two sets of work. The first is a draft long term vision and strategic plan for the country. The second set of work relates to a series of thematic papers on cross cutting issues affecting South Africa's long term development. Examples of possible themes include climate change, demographic change, water and food security, energy security, human resource development and technology and innovation.
The task of the Commission is to contribute towards government's long term plans through the production of high quality, evidence based research. Cabinet remains the key decision making centre in government and so the NPC would have to interact with Cabinet, through the chair of the Commission who is also a member of Cabinet. For this reason, the Commission is essentially of an expert nature, broadly representative of the range of expertise and opinions of South Africans. At the same time, the Commission, with the support of Parliament, would facilitate public input into the development of a long term vision that people from all walks of life can aspire to.
While long term planning is an ongoing process, it is hoped that the Commission would be able to produce a draft vision and long term strategic plan within 18 months.
Today, we are formally asking the public to nominate people to serve on the National Planning Commission. We seek the best, brightest minds in our country that can use their sectoral expertise to contribute towards a broad development plan for the country. Individuals and organisations are invited to nominate people who will serve in their own capacity as Commissioners. The Commission will be of a permanent nature but Commissioners will be part time. The closing date for nominations is 10 February, after which the President will announce the names of the Commissioners by the end of March.
This weekend, we also begin the process of establishing the secretariat to support the work of the Commission. The secretariat is a new institution based in the Presidency that provides technical, administrative and professional support to the work of the Commission. To staff the secretariat, we seek to attract a small number of highly competent, experienced professionals through offering a range of flexible employment options, including the option of secondment from both public and private organisations.
Nomination forms for both the Commission and for positions in the secretariat will be online. People wishing to access more information and the forms can log onto the National Planning Commission icon on the Presidency website: www.thepresidency.gov.za/nationalplanningcommission.asp
Statement issued by The Presidency, January 15 2010
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