There is still much uncertainty about the future of the National Development Plan (NDP). However, President Jacob Zuma has moved to offer something of a bulwark against what is generally perceived to be a steady and ongoing erosion of the plan and its credibility. The President did so by simultaneously welcoming the debate, while rejecting the notion that the criticism could be interpreted as a rejection.

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

Flanked by NPC chairperson and Minister in The Presidency Responsible for the National Planning Commission 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 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, to a lesser extent, the South African Communist Party. The newest development is a suggestion that Cosatu would like to see a wholesale redrafting of the economic chapter – an issue that could well be raised at an Alliance summit, which has been postponed.

Ramaphosa reports that the NPC has been in contact with Cosatu general-secretary Zwelinzima Vavi about a meeting of the “commission collective” with the union federation and that he has received a positive response.

Manuel, meanwhile, has kept the door open for adjustments. He argues that there was never going to be a “cataclysmic” moment when “all discussion now ends – it’s going to [move to] implementation”. Instead, there will be “learning by doing” and “adaptation as we go”. It is, thus, premature, he asserts, to declare the plan a “nonstarter”.

Manuel has also emphasised that chapters three and four have fully integrated the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan, both of which are regarded as more palatable to Cosatu.

Zuma has requested the NPC to move to developing a ‘critical path’ for the plan, which will result in a prioritisation of the objectives outlined so as to ensure that a head of steam is built up around implementation.

Whether the prospect of accommodating adjustments will be sufficient to appease Cosatu is uncertain. However, the push-back against suggestions of a wholesale rejection offers an important signal.

What will be interesting to see, though, is how much of the plan actually makes its way into government’s Medium Term Strategic Framework – the document that is meant to weave the NPC’s work into the plans and strategies of government departments.