It has been five years since the adoption of the National Development Plan (NDP), with a second commission having been appointed to drive its implementation, aimed at guiding South Africa’s economic and developmental future.

However, the two goals most core to the NDP’s ambitions – reducing inequality and eradicating poverty – have worsened since 2012.

South Africa remains persistently plagued by high levels of poverty, with new data revealing that the number of South Africans living in poverty, in the richest country in Africa, has increased to over 30-million.

The nation’s unemployment levels have widened to a rate of 27.7% – the bulk of which are constituted by youth – which is far from the target level of 6% envisaged by the NDP meant to have been achieved through the creation of 11-million jobs. Meanwhile, South Africa’s gini coefficient remains highest globally at 0.69, still a significant distance from the NDP target of 0.60.

Developed into three work streams, the NDP commission is focused on enhancing the quality of life for South Africans, expanding an inclusive, fairer economy and the State, in an effort to tackle the core challenges faced by the country, said National Planning Commission commissioner Dr Thami Mazwai at the Metals and Engineering Indaba, being held in Sandton on Friday.

Breaking down the technicalities of the NDP, Mazwai told delegates that there were indicators and targets for implementation, involving also an ever-increasing alignment with national and departmental budgets, which was critical to the plan’s progress.

However, Business Leadership South Africa CEO Bonang Mohale argued that South Africa would continue “chasing its tail” when it came to the implementation of the NDP, which he described as an “amazing” overarching goal of the country, unless corruption, leadership woes and State capture were adequately dealt with.

Business confidence has reached its lowest point in 23 years in a country that has a host of self-inflicted challenges in an otherwise steadying global economy, where even emerging countries other than South Africa, are growing – and this has nothing to do with the availability of resources in the nation.

The economy is underperforming under leadership that is not focused on the plight of South African citizens, said Mohale.

“What we have witnessed in the last eight years is inconsistent with the preamble in the Constitution: ‘We the people’ and ‘United in our diversity’,” he said, referring to a disregard for the people of South Africa.

Trust needed to be rebuilt, noted Mohale.

Massmart chairperson Kuseni Dlamini said the NDP was not a reality but nor was it a “mirage”, it could be leveraged as an opportunity to unite South Africans.

The NDP has become a key roadmap pointing South Africa on a sustainable path to the future for the first time in 300 years, he said.

While the country is polarised around State capture, corruption and leadership structures, among other issues, the NDP has united South Africa and, while there have been some failures, there is a need to remember that the NDP has achieved some milestones as well, noted Dlamini.