The National Development Plan says: “To accelerate development, South Africa needs the active support of all citizens; leadership, in all sectors, that puts the country’s collective interests ahead of narrow, short- term goals; and radically improved government performance. In some instances, policy change may be necessary, but in most areas it is about getting the basics right, implementing government programmes, holding people accountable for their actions and finding innovative solutions to complex challenges”

From the RDP (1994) to the NDP (2012), the government of South Africa has created reasonably workable policies and plans. Some policies are well researched and benchmarked and engender hope for citizens. However, it appears  that policy planning is rewarded over policy implementation and realising policy impact. New and revised policies and programs fill pages of government’s annual planning and reporting  documents against which budgets are approved and  performance of leaders are assessed annually.

The sad reality for all South Africans is that the actual socio-economic impact of the noble policies is seldomly monitored, tracked and assessed. This phenomenon in the business environment is termed ‘gesture processes’ (Christelis; 2015) meaning that policy remains but a gesture, failing to provide any significant tangible benefit for the targeted groups. The analysis of government policies and programs depict a ‘broken record’ status quo. This kind of imposter policy formulation and planning processes discredits otherwise well intentioned efforts of government.

In 2007 the National Treasury issued the Framework for Managing Programme Performance Information (FMPPI). The document outlines key concepts in the design and implementation of management systems to define, collect, report and utilise performance information in the public sector.

In 2010  the National Treasury published The Framework for Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans with a very instructive Foreword.

‘…It is therefore important that institutions focus on the achievement of outcomes oriented planning and report the results in a simple and clear manner...As part of the policy development process to achieve better service delivery for the South African people, government identifies broad strategic outcomes which require high quality planning to accomplish. Government has the responsibility to ensure responsible spending, given the limited nature of public funds. Thus the costs of initiatives must be linked with results to ensure value for money. Figure 1 illustrates key performance information concepts aligned to the outcomes oriented approach…’

The sophisticated documents developed under National Treasury often miss the target audience.  While powerful in articulating challenges of implementation they have but failed to shape a more accountable public sector. 

The Implement will use these publicly available National Treasury frameworks to develop digital tools to facilitate the translation of the stated policy intention to societal value.