3. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
3.8 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICIES
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might appropriately be located in the tradition of the South African innovation system perspective, which should commence from innovation strategy, rather than R&D strategy.
Nonetheless, the notion of the five 'Grand Challenges' discussed in the SA DST TYIP, (2008:11- 24) has entered the discourse of the NSI community, especially the science councils. The TYIP, however, does not directly address the structural challenges of achieving the five Grand Challenge outcomes which, according the SA DST Ministerial Review Committee (2012), has been occasioned by the lack of systematic authority invested in the DST and NACI. The DST is also unlikely to achieve some of the outlined output targets for a number of reasons, the main one being the lack of alignment within government structures (National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI, 2010:9). Oakland (2000:245-255) recommends instituting ‘change programmes’ by concentrating on ‘process alignment’, rather task alignment. The proposed knowledge-based economy will entail the use of ‘active’ systems that have clearer targets, policies, well-coordinated rather than ‘passive’ systems for the structural transformation to be effective (Viotti, 2002:655).
This research is of the view that the TYIP transition should be managed carefully, through aligning SD, research and innovation policies for the growing knowledge economy as the key mandate of the South African government. Undertaking periodical research will promote the basis for benchmarking South Africa’s performance in the knowledge economy transition.
South Africa can usefully establish a Nordic-style innovation agency (discussed in later Chapters) to realise the TYIP. Characteristics of Nordic agencies include (i) an innovation systems approach, for explicitly tackling institutional development, both in industry and in the knowledge infrastructure; (ii) technically and scientifically qualified staff in project and NSI programme management functions; (iii) strong internal strategic intelligence and dense networks with industry and the knowledge infrastructure for bottleneck analysis and programme design; and (iv) correspondingly, a strong de facto role in strategy and portfolio development within the responsible ministries. This research now turns to the literature review of SD policies mainly from a South African perspective.
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for addressing innovation policies. In this research context, SD policies should be closely integrated with innovation policies right from the onset in order to achieve extensive and desirable outcomes. This approach does not mean a neglect of the general STI policies. An overview of South Africa’s SD (economic, social and environmental) policy initiatives since 1994 indicates that the country’s expectations have not been fully met and need to be addressed.
A SD policy combines economic, social and ecological goals and shares a holistic paradigm with third-generation innovation policy (Lafferty et al., 2005:255). Sustainable development policy objectives are normally better achieved by voluntary acceptance and compliance (the carrot approach) (De Coning et al., 2011:16). In South Africa developmental activities are largely informed by legislation and other policy documents such as White and Green papers, National Plans and S&T policy initiatives, such as the NACI Act (No. 55 of 1997), the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative, ASGI‐SA, the R&D Strategy and the National Framework for Sustainable Development (NFSD).
This research supports the notion that SD initiatives require measures to: (i) build and strengthen a sound policy cycle in every policy sector (vertical coherence and policies); (ii) improve the co- ordination of sectoral policies (horizontal coherence and policies); (iii) allow for the modulation of short-term and long-term objectives (temporal coherence) and improve functional interventions, intended to improve markets operations without favouring particular activities (Lall & Teubal, 1998:1371-1380; Lafferty et al., 2005:261).
3.8.1 Historical Perspective on South African Sustainable Development Policies
In 1994, the new government adopted the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) as the basic developmental policy framework. The RDP identified economic policy strategies across a wide range of issues and sectors, including macroeconomic policy, but by late 1995, the RDP’s limited growth and employment impact was generally inadequate.
In June 1996, the macroeconomic policy, the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), strategy was formulated. It focused on stabilising the foreign exchange market and on growth.
Although successful in achieving many of the macroeconomic targets (such as containing the fiscal deficit), GEAR’s initiatives did not succeed in reaching the explicit targets of 6% annual growth and 500 000 new jobs by 2001. As of 2001/02 there had been a shift from fiscal austerity to more growth-oriented policies in South Africa. The new Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative South Africa (ASGISA), launched in 2006 was intended to address growth-oriented policy objectives,
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such as halving poverty and unemployment by 2014, with an average growth rate of 5% a year over ASGISA’s ten-year horizon.
3.8.2 National Strategy for Sustainable Development
The NFSD was approved by Cabinet in 2008 and the National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan, referred to as NSSD1 (2011–2014), in 2011. South Africa’s NSSD1 aims at strengthening existing planning frameworks by lengthening the time horizon and identifying long-term trends that could influence (positively or negatively) the intended outcomes for SD. Implementation of the NSSD1 is expected to be coordinated through established government structures. A key NSSD1 priority area is creating sustainable economies, with the objective of: fostering employment creation and anti-poverty projects with an emphasis on livelihoods derived from sustainability priorities such as waste recycling, alternative fuel production, solar and wind-based business opportunities, urban agriculture, local craft production, and biodiversity.
The NSSD1 (2011-2014) has three phases. Phase one aims at ensuring the rollout and successful implementation of the NFSD. This planning stage will require a clearly defined plan, which is well structured, properly coordinated and managed, and meets certain set out criteria. Efficient implementation of a strategic SD plan will involve securing interconnection with other policy documents (Hřebík et al., 2006:53-54). An international benchmarking by the NSSD1 (2011-2014) shows that it is important to integrate and align efforts to implement the NFSD with macroeconomic policies and programmes to avoid a situation where the NFSD is pursued as a separate issue.
Phase two of the NSSD1 (2011-2014) aims at: (i) formalising and consolidating institutional framework; (ii) compiling a status quo report of progress to date with performance in respect of implementing MDG targets nationally; (iii) finalising the national strategy and develop an action plan for the strategic priority areas; and (iv) mobilising and leveraging resources for implementation.
Phase three of the NSSD1 (2011-2014) will include: (i) engaging in sector policy reviews with the aim of identifying gaps and opportunities in the current policy; and (ii) improving the performance of the state through streamlining various cooperative governance structures; and (iii) ensuring that M&E processes are established.
88 3.8.3 The National Development Plan
The National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 by the NPC (2011b) is a framework to accelerate economic growth, eliminate poverty and reduce inequality. The plan aims to reduce the costs of living and of doing business, resulting in improved consumer and business confidence, rising levels of private investment, and higher growth and employment. The NDP is a comprehensive and thoughtful blueprint for a prosperous, safe, democratic South Africa in 2030, with a detailed diagnosis of the many policy challenges.
The South African government has also embarked on a National Growth Path, NGP (EDD, 2010), a long-term project that supports rigorous policy intentions and interventions for constructing an inclusive developmental state. The NDP notes that “the [NGP] and this plan are complementary in the effort to lower costs in the economy, especially as high costs contribute towards limiting employment growth and increase hardship for poor households.” The NGP differs from NDP because it has a somewhat more interventionist slant, with a greater emphasis on industrial policy.
The NGP is an economic framework for the period 2010-20. The NGP, unlike the NDP, assumes a
“job engineering” approach. A developmental state is one that “authoritatively, credibly, legitimately and in a binding manner is able to formulate and implement its policies and programmes” (The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, UNECA, 2012:95; National Planning Commission (NPC, 2011a:340). The South African NSI is central in realisation of the NGP and NDP Vision 2030, which will require installing proper governance within the NSI. To this end, attention now turns to the literature review on policy indicator mainly from a South African perspective.