Date: 08 July 2025, 10h00
Venue: Parliament, Cape Town

Honourable Chairperson of the Session,
Honourable Deputy Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Seiso Mohai,
Honourable Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Ms Teliswa Mgweba,
Honourable Members of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Director General of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Robert Nkuna and his team,
Distinguished Guests,
Members of the media,
Fellow South Africans,

Good Morning!

I am honoured to present the 2025/2026 Budget Vote of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) before this esteemed Parliament. This moment comes just ten days before we celebrate the birthday of the founding father and first democratically elected President of South Africa, President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Madiba dedicated his entire life to peace, equality, justice, and the empowerment of the marginalised. Let us honour Tata Madiba’s legacy by deepening our democracy and strengthening the capacity of the state to deliver on key priorities.

We welcome the allocated budget of R450 million and urge this Parliament to endorse it in support of our mandate, which comprises of the coordination and integration of planning; monitoring the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) Vision 2030 and Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) 2024 – 2029; and evaluation of key government programmes to drive improved performance and accountability across the state.

Over the past year, the Department has engaged with the Portfolio Committee on several pressing issues, including concerns about the ability of this Department to steer the whole state machinery towards the development outcomes. Together with the Committee, we affirmed the importance of shifting focus from inputs to outcomes and impact – a principle that underpins the MTDP.

Honourable House Chairperson,

I am pleased to report to this august House that Cabinet approved the MTDP 2024–2029 in February 2025, and its implementation is already underway. In this regard, the draft MTDP was presented to the Portfolio Committee while it was still being finalised by the Executive. This Plan marks a critical phase in the journey towards achieving the NDP Vision 2030, as it is the final medium-term planning cycle before the 2030 targets of both the NDP and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The MTDP has three strategic priorities, namely:

• Driving inclusive economic growth and job creation.
• Reducing poverty and tackling the high cost of living.
• Building a capable, ethical, and developmental state.

These MTDP Strategic Priorities are supported by a broad cross-section of society, both during their formulation and now in the implementation phase. For example, NEDLAC convened the social partners — Organised Labour, Business, Community and Government — to reflect on the 30-Year Review and provide recommendations for planning in the 7th Administration. Recent engagements with the leadership of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Standard Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) are useful examples that build on a process championed by the President to galvanise a united front in pursuing the country’s development priorities.

Successful implementation of the MTDP 2024–2029 must be demonstrated through the achievement of its set targets and improved living conditions of citizens. To support implementation, DPME is facilitating a process to identifying the key success factors and the risk management framework to ensure that we do not miss the targets. In the assessment of the national and provincial five-year strategic plans and Annual Performance Plans (APPs), we have observed greater alignment with the MTDP 2024–2029 and the NDP Vision 2030.

As a Department, we will persist in monitoring the Government’s sustained agenda against the set of clear interventions and targets of the MTDP. This will be achieved through the production of Biannual Reports to the executive on our progress and any setbacks encountered. These reports will not only examine the outputs of the MTDP but will also emphasise tracking the outcomes of actions and interventions undertaken by various sectors.

To ensure adequate resource allocations, the DPME will develop the Budget Prioritisation Framework (BPF) on an annual basis to facilitate the alignment of planning priorities and the national budget process. The synergy between planning and budgeting is crucial. We are also pleased to note the ongoing work by National Treasury to review the budget processes. DPME is actively contributing to this process through its participation in the technical committee on the national budget.

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) continue to demonstrate strong capacity for resource mobilisation, which will go a long way to enable us to implement at scale and sustainably. An independent evaluation of renewable energy projects financed by the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) in South Africa, for instance, revealed that the initial partnerships that the NDB had with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), enabled them to expand their network of local private sector partners to work with.

We are also working with the Presidency to strengthen coordination across government through the cluster system. Several Members of Parliament have rightly pointed out that coordination remains a challenge across the different spheres of government. In response, I instructed the Department to intensify efforts to align Provincial Growth and Development Strategies with the MTDP. We have begun this work already with the Northern Cape, a province endowed with resources for renewable energy and green hydrogen potential. Realising such opportunities requires strong intergovernmental coordination, especially given the limited financial resources available.

The development of the MTDP involved collaboration with the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). We are now working with DCOG to ensure that the District Development Model (DDM) Champions have clear delivery scorecards linked with the MTDP. DPME will use existing platforms, including the DDM, to engage municipalities and ensure alignment with their own planning processes.

We are also participating in the ongoing consultations on the White Paper on Local Government. While we welcome this decisive intervention to address challenges facing local government – urgent, well-coordinated measures are needed to address immediate needs.

Our approach is to monitor the work of the intervening departments at the national and the provincial levels to prevent duplications. The aim is to create space for integrated planning systems that will optimise the available limited resources, especially under the prevailing fiscal constraints.

House Chairperson,

Let me join millions of South Africans in commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Freedom Charter, adopted in Kliptown in 1955. The Freedom Charter laid a foundation for many of our policies and remains a guiding light, especially in the Government of National Unity (GNU).

We welcome President Ramaphosa’s call for an all-inclusive National Dialogue to enable a conversation among citizens on critical challenges facing our country.

As the current NDP nears its end, preparation for the National Dialogue aligns well with the work of the National Planning Commission (NPC) to review the NDP and chart a new long-term plan for the country. Long-term planning fosters policy certainty and informed decision-making, particularly on major public investments.

In June 2025, the NPC in partnership with the DPME, the Northern Cape Provincial Government, and Sol Plaatje University, hosted a National Planning Summit to facilitate a conversation on long-term planning and development of the country. These conversations will be expanded to other parts of the country with an aim of engaging all sectors of society.

Over the past few years, attempts have been made to strengthen the mandate of DPME through the Planning Bill. We are now shifting focus and considering a White Paper process which will enable us to clarify a cohort of questions that have been raised by various stakeholders within and outside of government.

The integration of the former Department of Public Enterprises into DPME has enabled us to refocus efforts on strengthening governance and performance of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This complements our broader mandate to monitor and evaluate the state-owned entities. As part of this work, we produce an annual report on the state of governance and performance of various entities, which includes identifying best practices for cross-learning.

We are of the view that our quest to build an inclusive economy requires that we reform our state-owned enterprises. They are not merely instruments of public service delivery; they are strategic levers for inclusive economic growth, industrialisation, employment creation, and national development. They also play a critical role in key sectors such as electricity generation, commuter transport, water provision, freight logistics, and telecommunications.

In this regard, the Department tabled the National State Enterprises (NSE) Bill before this House to promote the reform of South Africa’s SOEs towards a centralised shareholder model. The NSE Bill proposes a shift towards a globally aligned governance framework, built on clear mandates, centralised oversight, and performance-based management. We are happy that Parliament is considering the Bill, and we will be on hand to ensure that it is fully implemented to ensure the reform of SOEs and their expected developmental impact.

Honourable Chairperson,

In July 2025, the DPME will present a detailed performance review of government to Cabinet, highlighting high-impact areas that require attention. Following engagement with Cabinet, this performance report will be shared with Parliament through the Portfolio Committee.

In order to assess the impact of government programmes, a forward-looking Evidence Plan was developed to set priorities for research, evaluation, and data systems over the next five years. In 2025/26, this Evidence Plan will be implemented to introduce new focus areas in line with the MTDP 2024–2029.

Priority actions for 2025/26 include: updating the National Evaluation Policy Framework (NEPF) to incorporate lessons learned and modern evaluation methodologies; introducing a new National Evaluation Plan (2025–2030) to guide the national evaluation agenda; and revising the Data Strategy to modernise data systems and improve inter-operability.

Several recently completed evidence products continue to provide policymakers with actionable insights are the following:

• The Development Indicators (DI) 2024 Report and Dashboard, which tracks progress towards the NDP targets, benefits from collaborative work with partners such as the Stellenbosch University Bureau for Economic Research, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, CSIR, Statistics South Africa, and others.
• Evaluation of the Priority Human Settlements and Housing Development Areas (PHSHDA), and the Rapid Evaluation of the 16 Days Campaign for No Violence Against Women and Children. Improvement plans from these evaluations will be implemented by custodian departments.
• Preliminary findings on the Evaluation of the Parole System which drew from existing research from five universities has provided the Department of Correctional Services with valuable insights to use in its strategy review processes.
• The 2nd Edition of the COVID-19 Country Report has been published to share lessons from the later phases of the pandemic to inform future disaster management and preparedness.
• The DPME plays a role as convener for Pillar 6 of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP-GBVF), including developing an AI-powered Evidence Map and producing the Annual NSP-GBVF Implementation Review.

Greater emphasis in 2025/26 will be placed on timely dissemination of evidence products. This means presenting findings in accessible and actionable formats, tracking the uptake and impact of recommendations, and supporting departments in developing and executing improvement plans that deliver real change. Wider dissemination will be supported through targeted roundtables and dialogue sessions involving the Minister and briefing of relevant Parliamentary Committees, and stakeholders to deepen accountability and promote learning.

A key priority for 2025/26 is the development of modern, digital, and integrated reporting systems to improve reporting of government performance. We will also focus on applying integrated reporting dashboards, strengthening capacity for data science, evidence synthesis, and impact evaluation – all to ensure that our work remains cutting-edge and relevant.

We are strengthening our interface with key oversight institutions to leverage our respective mandates and maximise impact. In this spirit, the DPME holds bilateral meetings with the Auditor General to share insights emanating from our respective monitoring and oversight processes.

Furthermore, DPME in collaboration with the Portfolio Committee, hosted an M&E Capacity Building Workshop for Parliamentarians from 29–31 May 2025.

Honourable Members,

This year is an important year, as our country is presiding over the G20 under the overarching theme of “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability.” In this regard, DPME is responsible for chairing and coordinating the Development Working Group under the South African Presidency of the G20.

We have identified three priorities, namely: mobilising finance for development through curbing illicit financial flows; social protection floors, where we are highlighting the need to fast-track progressive implementation of nationally defined universal social protection floors; and introducing a debate and discussion on the importance of global public goods to address global challenges.

So far, we have convened three meetings of the DWG at technical level to prepare for the Ministerial Meeting to be held on 24 – 25 July 2025 at the Kruger National Park. We appreciate the support and guidance of this House.

Furthermore, DPME will support the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in reviewing the Bi-national Commissions to assess the extent of implementation and results achieved. We will also provide support in the review of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), which is pivotal for regional integration and the rejuvenation of the region.

Our Department has also supported the work of His Excellency, the President, in his capacity as the African Union Champion and Chairperson on the Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI) by revitalising this initiative, which last convened in 2019 and involves 12 African countries focused on promoting infrastructure projects among these countries.

Equally, we have just returned from Seville, Spain, where we participated in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development. This important conference sought alternative means for the international community to promote and support the financing of development programmes around the world.

Honourable Members,

All of the above-mentioned activities demonstrate that the Department remains committed to its mandate and role to promote coherence through the institutionalisation of planning, development of an integrated monitoring system, evaluation of critical government programmes, and production of research outputs to inform decision-making. We will continue to undertake these efforts with the guidance and support of this august House.

Finally, I would like to express appreciation to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and other Honourable Members of the Committee for their guidance and support. Equally, let me express my appreciation to Deputy Minister Mohai, for his commitment and support.

Last but not least, I wish to thank Dr Robert Nkuna, and the DPME staff for their continued hard work and commitment to the work of the Department.

As I conclude, I invite the House to accept and adopt the Budget Vote of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

I thank you!