Zille finds holes in planning report
2011-07-22 22:13
Cape Town - The first national planning report has omitted 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. Particularly, we singled out crime," 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 that was part of a roadshow through provinces that will next take him to the Northern Cape.
"Crime is a factor that is undermining economic growth and the prospects for economic growth, and also having 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 released but believed that there was a need to focus more on public transport as it was vital to create a functioning urban economy.
Manuel replied that some of the issues cited by the opposition leader were in fact considered by the commission but, perhaps wrongly, not given prominence in the 30-page summary of the first national planning report released last month.
"Behind that there are about 200 pages of work and behind that a lot of research done. One of those deals with the human conditions... education, health, social, security, personal safety, 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 on the whole the DA agreed with the commission's findings.
"We agree with 95% of it, we just pointed to some additional things," he told 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
