Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Howz that working out - 13yrs on?

1.4.3 In Meeting Basic Needs, our people should become part of the decision-making process on job creation, land reform, housing, services, water and sanitation, energy, telecommunications, transport, the environment, nutrition, health care, social security and social welfare. They should therefore help to decide where infrastructure is located, be employed in its construction, and be empowered to participate in the management and administration of large-scale developments. These major infrastructural programmes should stimulate the economy through increased demand for materials such as bricks and steel, appliances such as television sets and washing machines, and many other products. In addition, the industrial sector should develop new, more efficient and cheaper products to meet basic needs.

3.6.3 Investments that follow the logic of the RDP offer tremendous opportunities for South African industry. In particular, major investments will be made in electricity, health, housing, education, telecommunications and the information infrastructure, transport, and public works such as roads, water and sanitation. This expenditure will take place primarily in order to provide for basic needs and infrastructure. Manufacturers and service industries will therefore have opportunities to design efficient attractive products and processes, which are appropriate for local conditions and could become important export niches.

3.9.2 The Government will support innovative financial institutions and instruments which promote domestic savings and extend financial services to those who do not have adequate access to these services. In particular, financing for housing and for small and medium-sized enterprises will be mobilised. The Government will discourage financial institutions from discriminating on the grounds of race and gender.

4.1.2 The deficit has reached disturbingly high levels in recent years and any future borrowing strategy will be based on caution, particularly with respect to foreign loans. The Government is committed to the progressive reduction of the overall deficit. The Government's commitment to maintaining fiscal discipline rests on the belief that the sustainability of the RDP will be at risk if discipline is not maintained. Excessive government deficits will result in higher inflation, higher real interest rates, balance of payments problems and lower economic growth, thereby undermining the RDP. Given the inherited pressure on balance of payments, the impact of such deficits becomes more immediate, reducing the flexibility to redirect expenditure to priority areas. The Government's borrowing strategy will consciously avoid taking on debt for development projects that do not generate short-term cash-flows. Borrowing will be increased and rationalised for projects (such as housing, electrification, water among others) for which full or partial cost-recovery can be generated. With this in mind, the Government intends to ensure the effective management of resources, achieve rapid improvements in the quality of services, and redistribute and redirect government spending in line with the new priorities of the RDP.

7.3.2 Effective representation by disadvantaged groups such as women and rural people will require the encouragement of non-traditional organisations such as stokvels, producer co-operatives, housing and electricity co-operatives.

7.6.9 The Government must therefore provide resources in an open and transparent manner, and in compliance with clear and explicit criteria to mass organisations to ensure that they are able to develop or maintain the ability to participate effectively as negotiating partners of the Government. The social partnership envisaged by the RDP does not, however, imply that mass organisations do not retain the right to their own interpretation of and their own goals for the RDP. It does imply that there is agreement to find solutions to constraints which will emerge in the RDP's implementation. For example, if construction industry bottlenecks are identified as constraints to government efforts to reach housing targets, the relevant organisations and institutions will be encouraged to reach consensus on solutions to address the specific bottlenecks or shortages that are identified. Thus a series of agreements or accords will be negotiated to facilitate the full participation of civil society, together with the Government, in order to find ways to take down the barriers which emerge during the course of the RDP.

ANC RDP White Paper



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