The history of South Africa required the country to have its unique brand of a developmental state, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has said.
“There can be no doubt of its utility and societal leadership role it must assume,” Dlamini said.
She made the statement at the National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP) debate titled “Building a developmental state to take the lead in building a better life for all”.
“It must have capacity and capability to lead and mobilise all sectors of society behind a common agenda,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma also said for South Africa to attain a developmental state, it should fulfil four conditions.
These included having a long-term vision and a plan mobilise all of society and it must be in possession of significant legitimacy and mobilisation to capture the imagination of the citizenry.
It must be in possession of technical capacity and capability as well as a system to implement its short- and longer-term objectives.
Dlamini Zuma said South Africa would need to be trusted, ethical and professional if it were to become a developmental state.
Eastern Cape Cogta MEC Xolile Nqatha said the debate was important in the renewal of the country in the aftermath of Covid-19 which has worsened unemployment, poverty and associated crises and resulted in households barely meeting their daily needs.
“A developmental state that asserts national interests, that intervenes in the interest of the majority is a precondition to overcome this current crisis,” he said.
Nqatha also said developmental states were usually associated with high economic growth such as in Japan, South Korea, China and Brazil.
He said as the country renewed itself and dealt with the damage of state capture, people should be mobilised to be part of changing their own conditions.
“We’ve got to have the ability where people are mobilised behind this vision.”
The MEC said the National Development Plan was a critical pillar in building a developmental state as it is required to have coherence, planning and co-ordinating capacity to ensure that priorities were resourced and implemented.
“Some of the developments are not contributing positively, whether it is about austerity measures or cutting social expenditure.
“We must resource priorities and not cut spending,” Nqatha added.
Isaac Mbulelo Sileku, DA MP in the NCOP, said the ANC weakened the vital ability and honest intentions of municipalities to provide the people with good services.
“We as the good people of this land are reaping the sour fruits of local government implosion where ANC governs,” Sileku said.
He noted with concern that some municipalities were unable to collect revenue, and that they adopted unfunded budgets.
“They are cash-strapped because there is no tax base and lately they are affected by Covid-19. Such municipalities are unable to provide minimum basic services to the people and pay creditors,” he said, before laying the blame on corruption and malfeasance.
“The key reason why municipalities fail is that incompetent cadres and politicians don’t understand the real problem: the structural collapse o local government.
“Capacity building is a pie in the sky as cadres have no will to be developed as real functionaries,” he charged.
Sileku also said the National Treasury was cutting transfers to municipalities and provinces in order to reduce the budget deficit.
“We can create a capable network of municipalities if we restore value and ethics, transformative leadership, innovation and strategic planning,” he added.
EFF MP Simon Moletsane said his party stood at the forefront of state development and building the country to its fullest capacity.
“We have to acknowledge that as a country we are at all an important turning point of our democracy. We face a number of challenges which should point us towards a direction of a developmental state.”
Moletsane said South Africa was heading for failure and was far removed from the path to developmental state as its capacity continued to deteriorate and it was swayed away from the right economic direction.
POLITICAL BUREAU