Edition March 2025

The 7th Administration is united by a common purpose of building a South Africa for all its people, and to address the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality. As we have acknowledged in the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) Statement of Intent, South Africa has made significant strides in establishing a non-racist, non-sexist and democratic society, and improving the lives of its people.

Yet, there is still much more to do to meet our goals for the country. In this administration, we have an opportunity to further our efforts of addressing the ongoing challenges our communities face, and to further improve the lives of our people.

Medium-Term Development Plan

The Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) of 2024 – 2029 is the GNU’s five-year programme of action. It is a comprehensive framework that guides government action and priorities for the 7th Administration. It is rooted in principles of economic growth and job creation, inclusivity, poverty eradication and sustainable development. Crucially, the MTDP marks a critical phase in achieving the goals of the National Development Plan Vision 2030, as it is the final medium- term plan before 2030.

The MTDP replaces the previous Medium-Term Strategic Framework, in a transition that reflects a significant revolution in South Africa’s developmental planning. The process of formulating and finalising the MTDP included extensive consultations and discussions between all the political parties represented in the GNU. The discussions in the GNU culminated in the adoption of three strategic priorities for the administration, which are to:

• drive inclusive economic growth and job creation,
• reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and
• build a capable, ethical and developmental state.

These priorities anchor the MTDP in its aim to overcome the challenges that have hindered effective service delivery. These include fragmented priorities, misalignment of budgets and a lack of integration across national, provincial and local levels of government. The MTDP aims to create a more equal society where no person lives in poverty, build a capable state delivering basic services to all citizens, building a dynamic and growing economy, a safe and secure environment, and a cohesive and united nation. To set govern ment on a more effective path to implement policies and to effectively deliver its develop- mental mandate, the MTDP also focuses on policy  coherence, capacity building and combating corruption.

Inclusive growth and development

The MTDP charts the acceleration of South Africa’s path towards inclusive growth and development. To achieve this, the MTDP places an emphasis on active citizenry, and strengthening partnerships between government and the private sector, labour and civil society through enhanced public-private partnership models. This will assist in the acceleration of infrastructure projects, job creation and the country’s economic recovery.

Driving inclusive growth and job creation is the apex priority of the MTDP. The goals for this priority include driving investment and boosting key economic sectors, including labour-intensive industries such as agriculture, mining, tourism and services sectors, and expanding employment initiatives such as the Presidential Employ ment Stimulus. This priority also sets for increasing investment in infrastructure reforms and using public-private partnerships to strengthen energy, communication, water and transport infrastructure.

It also focuses on boosting small business growth and empowering entrepreneurs by cutting red tape and streamlin- ing support for entrepreneurs and cooperatives, especially in township and rural communities. To drive inclusive growth and job creation, government will continue structural reforms to build a competitive economy, and to invest in research and innovation to transform South Africa’s science capabilities, human resources and research infrastructure.

Reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living

To reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, the MTDP prioritises government supporting people’s basic needs, to ensure that local government implements policies to support the elderly, and to protect the value of social grants for children, the elderly and persons with disabilities.

The plan expresses the need to reduce the cost of living by reviewing current administered prices and implementing an integrated transport network in line with the National Rail Policy. It also emphasises income support and social protection to enable a sustainable form of income for unemployed people and to ensure that the National Minimum Wage increases with inflation, and that compliance to this is enforced.

The transformation of South Africa’s healthcare is emphasised in the MTDP. This is to ensure that all citizens have access to equitable, accessible and affordable health care, that health infrastructure is strengthened, the training of healthcare personnel is improved, and that technology is used to improve healthcare management.

The MTDP also focuses on in creasing investment in education and skills development, to enable the achievement of universal ac- cess to early childhood development, to ensure that schools are conducive to education, and that vocational technical training is expanded.

A capable, ethical and developmental state

To build a capable, ethical and developmental state, government effectiveness will have to be strengthened, especially in planning and coordination, and in the role of the Public Service Commission in providing oversight in the appointment of Directors-General, state-owned enterprise board directors and other key positions in government.

Anti-corruption measures have to be enforced through the strengthening of law enforcement agencies, whistle-blower protections, and accountability measures in government, tackling priority crimes and combating infrastructure crime wll enhance public safety. The MTDP calls for gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) to be addressed by implementing the National Strategic Plan on GBVF and expanding victim support services such as the Thuthuzela Centres and GBV desks in police stations.

A whole of government approach

The successful delivery of the MTDP depends on a multi-faceted approach that priorities governance, coordination, inclusivity and structural reform. It requires collective action and coordination from all levels of government. This will ensure that our collective aims to enable inclusive growth and improving the lives of our people are met.

A whole of government approach towards meeting the country’s development goals needs coordination across ll spheres of government to ensure alignment of resources, policies and interventions. This will eliminate duplication and inefficiencies. Mainstreaming inclusivity across all of government will also help us to effectively meet our goals. This will further boost existing interventions by government, which prioritise marginalised groups including women, youth and persons with disabilities.

Effective coordination

Successfully delivering the MTDP requires the effective coordination of policies, plan- ning and implementation. The strengthened role of government to achieve these requirements will also enable the introduction of reforms such as streamlined intergovernmental cluster systems to ensure the cohesive execution of priorities.

The reform of government’s organisational structures will also modernise public institutions and address inefficiencies which hold back our ability to meet service-delivery and developmental goals. The reforms and developmental plans in the MTDP will provide the basis for a stable and functional local government, where development reaches all communities and municipal governance is strengthened.

The MTDP also supports reforms for the country’s SOEs to enhance their operational capacity, address governance challenges, and maximise their contribution to the country’s national development goals.

An era of great promise

The 7th Administration has demonstrated what President Cyril Ramaphosa refers to as an era of great promise. The GNU is committed to a shared purpose to work together to improve the lives of our people inclusively.

The MTDP is the embodiment of that common purpose, which will ensure that government contin ues to strengthen its capacity to meet its mid-term and long-term development goals.

The MTDP also ensures the collective action by government, the private sector, civil society, labour and other stakeholders to make sure that that no one is left behind as South Africa continues to build towards a sustainable and inclusive future.