South Africa needed to swiftly implement the proposals outlined in its tabled National Development Plan (NDP) to boost the country’s slow economic growth and avoid a “low-growth trap”.

After almost 19 years of deliberation, South Africa finally had a strategy that could potentially propel its development, Business Unity South Africa (Busa) special policy adviser Raymond Parsons said on Monday.

Speaking at a pre-State of the Nation media briefing in Sandton, he said the time had come to “narrow the gap between talk and action”, which had been an overarching concern in industry.

Fast-tracking the NDP, while not the complete solution to the country’s challenges, would go a long way to dissolving uncertainty and instability.

He pointed out that, while some factors could not be controlled, such as the global economy, the plan was something South Africa could tackle to move forward.

South Africa, through the NDP, must now deal with internal challenges to build a stronger, bigger and better economy.

The past few months had seen South Africa’s exports negatively impacted on by the slowdown in the eurozone, as the country was highly exposed to what Parson’s dubbed the “weakest spot in the world economy”.

However, several structural problems, such as the Marikana tragedy and industrial unrest, were of the country’s own making.

It was calculated that the strikes in the mining sector had shaved off 0.3% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth during 2012 and labour unrest was likely to remain a key feature of this year, resulting in further output losses.

South Africa’s economic performance at 2.5% growth in 2012 was “disappointing” with relatively low levels of business and investor confidence. A GDP growth of about 2.6% was forecast for 2013.

Even on the most favourable assumptions, the risk is one of a low-growth trap for South Africa of about 3% provided labour disturbances remained minimal, Parsons stated.

“For much higher economic growth, we would have to wait until, say mid-decade, depending on successful implementation of the NDP, speedy roll-out of the infrastructural programme and the global economy,” he continued.

Busa CEO Nomaxabiso Majokweni added that the national budget must incorporate the NDP’s proposals, as it had a significant impact on State expenditure and would require a supportive fiscal policy. Further, departmental policies, such as the Industrial Policy Action Plan and the New Growth Path, needed to be aligned with its strategies.

The NDP was a blueprint that could become a large-scale national implementation strategy dealing with the country’s challenges, and the implementation this year of only five key strategies within the plan was a start.

“It’s the long-term vision we need to adopt in the country and we need to ensure implementation is affected,” Majokweni stated; however, it was imperative that the private sector, business, labour and government worked together for the success of the plan.