By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Maropene Ramokgopa, Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, outlined the progress in implementing the country’s medium-term development plan running from 2024 to 2029.
Rampokgopa briefed the media on government’s performance against Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2024–2029, following Cabinet’s consideration of the Bi-Annual Progress Reports for the period April to September 2025.
The media briefing forms part of the in-depth engagements on MTDP performance envisaged by Cabinet, as outlined in the Cabinet Statement issued after its meeting.
Cabinet received and considered the bi-annual progress reports, which provide an overview of performance across government, highlighting areas of progress, as well as areas where implementation is lagging or facing challenges.
The MTDP is anchored by three interrelated and interlinked strategic priorities, namely, driving inclusive economic growth and job creation; reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living; and building a capable, ethical and developmental State.
For strategic priority one, Ramokgopa indicated that while economic recovery continued during the review period, growth remained below the level required to significantly reduce unemployment.
Youth unemployment remains high at 58.5%.
In the period a primary budget surplus was achieved; South Africa’s exit from the Financial Action Task Force grey list bolstered investor confidence; while business confidence remained subdued at 39 points attributed largely to logistics constraints and energy costs.
In tourism, international arrivals increased to 7.6-million between January and September 2025.
Tourism visa reforms are underway through the Electronic Travel Authorisation system.
Ramokgopa highlighted that key sectors continued to show progress, including R44.2-billion in new investments secured across sector masterplans; the launch of the BMW X3 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in the automotive sector; and the battery minerals pipeline being valued at R40-billion.
Government has earmarked R1.03-trillion for public infrastructure over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
The energy availability factor improved to 63.29%.
For strategy priority two, poverty and inequality remain structural challenges, exacerbated by slow growth, energy constraints and global economic pressures.
Gains in poverty reduction achieved before the year 2011 had not yet been fully recovered since the great financial crisis and the outbreak of Covid, Ramokgopa pointed out.
She highlighted the importance of social protection, with 19.2-million social grant beneficiaries having been supported, 452 302 individuals benefitting from food and nutrition programmes, and 120 935 victims of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) receiving psychosocial services.
However, rising administered prices and food costs continue to place pressure on household incomes, entrenching inequality, which is reflected in the Gini coefficient of about 0.63.
“High unemployment continues to undermine poverty reduction efforts, while challenges persist in grant payment systems and resourcing for GBVF interventions.”
In terms of health, HIV viral suppression stood at 96% in the reporting period. TB treatment success improved to 76.8%, while there has been progress on National Health Insurance governance structures despite litigation.
Antiretroviral treatment coverage is at 79%, below the target of 85%.
There are 1.3-million children enrolled in early childhood development (ECD) programmes. The sector exceeded its 2025 target of 10 000 new ECD centres, in addition to the 18 000 already registered.
In the period under review, 17 028 housing units were delivered, being 27% of the MTDP target; 12 623 serviced sites were completed, against a yearly target of 62 800; and 8 014 title deeds were issued, below the yearly target of 16 000.
For the third strategic priority, work continues to strengthen the performance of local government, as financial challenges in municipalities persist.
An Inter-Ministerial Committee has been established to support distressed municipalities.
Local government reforms are being introduced through review of current legislative and regulatory frameworks and the development of a White Paper on Local Government.
A Presidential Working Group has also been established to support metros, including implementation of the Metro Trading Service Reform Programme.
Ramokgopa also highlighted digitalisation as one area of success, with the rollout of digital IDs progressing. She indicated that the Department of Home Affairs was collaborating with financial institutions on technologies to implement this.
She further highlighted that the MyMzansi citizen platform prototype was launched “and is doing very well”, with this slated to be ready by year-end.
Recommendations for strategy one to improve economic and investment performance include accelerating Operation Vulindlela; strengthening investment facilitation capacity within the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and InvestSA; fast-tracking implementation of the updated Public-Private Partnership framework to crowd in private capital; and expanding competitive export incentives targeting high-growth manufacturing and the agroprocessing sectors.
For strategy two, in terms of social protection, recommendations include strengthening the stability of South African Social Security Agency payment systems; expanding employment-linked social protection targeting youth and women; improving coordination between the departments of Social Development, Health, Basic Education and Agriculture for an integrated poverty response; and strengthening monitoring of food poverty hotspots to target interventions.
For the third strategy, recommendations for local government include implementing a national municipal recovery and accountability framework; deploying rapid response technical teams for failing municipalities; introducing mandatory financial recovery plans for unfunded budgets; and reforming the local government fiscal framework to address unfunded mandates.