President Jacob Zuma has welcomed the ongoing debate over the National Development Plan (NDP), but has argued that the criticism should not be interpreted as an “overwhelming rejection” of the plan.

Speaking following a meeting with the National Planning Commission (NPC) at the Union Buildings on Wednesday, Zuma said the plan had attracted strong support across society and that greater urgency should, thus, be given to the more difficult task of implementation.

Flanked by NPC chairperson and Minister in The Presidency, Trevor Manuel, and NPC deputy chairperson, Cyril Ramaphosa, Zuma even likened the debate surrounding the 482-page document to that which had followed the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955.

He said such disagreement was natural, but called for input that would make the plan better rather than mere objections.

Much of the criticism was emanating primarily from the African National Congress’s own alliance partners, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party. An Alliance economic summit, where some of the objections would have been canvassed, was initially scheduled for this week, but was postponed.

Ramaphosa reported that the NPC had contacted Cosatu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi about a meeting of the “commission collective” with the union federation and he had received a positive response.

He also stressed that, once certain logistical impediments had been cleared, the Alliance Summit would discuss the NDP, along with a range of other issues, including the approach the partners would take ahead of the 2014 national elections.

Manuel stressed there would be no “cataclysmic” moment when “all discussion now ends – it’s going to [move to] implementation”. Instead, there would be “learning by doing” and “adaptation as we go”.

It was, thus, premature to declare the plan a “nonstarter”, although it was still mostly “words on a page”, which needed to be translated into a firm implementation plan.

The NPC had been requested to develop a "critical path", which would lead to a prioritisation of the objectives outlined in the plan so as to ensure “maximum traction” and to “build up a head of steam” around implementation.

He again stressed that chapters three and four had integrated the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan, both of which are regarded as more palatable to Cosatu, which meant that implementation was already under way.