Taxpayers to cough up for NDP from next year

Trevor Manuel. Picture: Dudu Zitha

Money to start implementing recommendations for the National Development Plan will only be set aside in next year’s budget, but government should start putting in place those parts of the plan that don’t need extra funds.

Planning Minister Trevor Manuel told journalists in Parliament today that implementation was the next step for the plan.

It was only adopted in September last year, when planning for the 2013/14 budget was already in an advanced stage.

In a statement accompanying his briefing, Manuel said the immediate steps to be taken were implementing programmes that do not require additional resources or long lead times, focusing on areas where the implementation of existing policies need to improve, and preparing for the first five-year building block of the NDP from 2014 to 2019.

Two more are set to follow after that.

The plan’s proposals are set to be broken down into medium- and short-term plans of government at national, provincial and municipal levels.

“The NDP provides the golden thread that brings coherence and consistency to these different plans,” Manuel said in the statement.