SA needs to be an effective developmental state if it is to achieve social transformation, African National Congress president Jacob Zuma said in Kempton Park on Saturday.
Zuma said SA’s economic growth needed to be supported by a transformation in the health and education sectors, a fight against crime, rural development and agrarian and land reform.
”Key to achieving these priorities will be the building of an effective, developmental state.”
Zuma, speaking at an ANC meeting to discuss the framework for its election manifesto, said this state would have ”strengthened capacity to plan throughout government by means of a planning entity and a new Cabinet system”.
”This will ensure a coherent state intervention in the economy to achieve our objectives of building a sustainable economy that creates decent jobs and meet our developmental needs.”
Zuma said an ANC government’s key focus in economic policy would be that of job creation and retention.
”The creation of and also retention of decent jobs will be the primary focus of all economic policies of the ANC government. Our trade and industrial policies, our macro-economic policy stance and other policies must be aligned to achieve decent work outcomes.”
Zuma said quality economic growth needed to be ensured.
”We cannot build the economy that does not, at the same time create decent jobs and significantly share the benefits of such growth with the greatest majority of our people, and reduce inequalities,” he said.
”As the RDP [Reconstruction and Development Programme] once emphasised, growth and development must be inter-connected.”
Zuma said the party’s industrial policy programme would be the key instrument for state intervention measures.
”[This] will ensure that both private and public sectors are oriented to investment areas that promote growth and development.”
Zuma said SA needed to be prepared for the impact of the global financial crisis, which was likely to slow the growth of the economy.
”We remain committed to the maintenance of macro-economic stability, sound management of public finances and a mass investment programme. These measures, together with our developmental priorities will help lessen the impact of the global crisis on South Africa’s poor.”
Zuma said South Africans also needed to be activists in the fight against HIV/Aids.
”AIDS can be beaten and we can see the difference within 10 years if we pool our efforts and change our mindsets.”
Zuma said the ANC’s manifesto needed to be an achievable plan: ”It is not designed to be a list of empty promises.” – Sapa