/ 22 July 2011

Zille: National planning report misses the crime mark

Zille: National Planning Report Misses The Crime Mark

The first national planning report has failed to deal with crime and the consequences of the “erosion” of the rule of law, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille said on Friday.

“We analysed the logic of the diagnostic overview and then we said the firm work had not allowed for sufficient focus on certain topics. We singled out crime particularly,” she told a joint media briefing with National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel.

It followed a three-hour meeting between provincial government and members of the national planning commission as part of a roadshow through provinces that will take him to the Northern Cape.

“Crime is a factor that is undermining economic growth and the prospects for economic growth. It also has a very profound effect on social inclusion and education and the other factors that were focused on. So that was a big gap,” Zille said.

“Another big gap was the analysis of the erosion of the Constitution and its institutions … because if people can’t rely on the security of the Constitution’s protection and the rule of law and due process, we will never have a context in which there is sufficient confidence to invest over the long term and to keep the skills and the capital.”

Zille said she supported the emphasis placed on infrastructure in the report but believed that there was a need to focus more on public transport which is vital to creating a functioning urban economy.

Manuel replied that some of the issues cited by the opposition leader were considered by the commission but were, perhaps wrongly, not given prominence in the 30-page summary of the first national planning report released in June.

“There are about 200 pages of work and behind that a lot of research is done. One of those deals with the human conditions of education, health, social, security, personal safety and wellness.

“We are working off 30 pages of an immense amount of work that is backed up. Not all of the details have been brought forward.

“I think the broad approach of the planning commission is that there are technical issues but there are also values, ethics and I suppose the broader political issues, with a small ‘p’.”

Manuel said Zille had asked for interaction between the province and the commission where the regional government could contribute input to the planning process.

Zille’s strategic advisor Ryan Coetzee said that on the whole the Democratic Alliance (DA) agreed with the commission’s findings.

“We agree with 95% of it, we just pointed to some additional things,” he told the South African Press Association (Sapa).

Manuel said the 25-member commission, which started work last May, was on track to release its plan of action for the country in November. — Sapa