Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac) released a report in response to the National Planning Commission’s (NPC’s) call for submissions on its 'National Development Plan (NDP) – Vision for 2030' and urged citizens to become more involved in a participatory democracy in which they play an active role in the reconceptualisation, reconstruction and development of their country.

This will require liberating South Africa’s people from being ‘subjects’ of State rule, dependent on government largesse for their development, to becoming active ‘citizens’ and partners in governance.

The report, titled ‘From Subject to Citizen: Let the People Govern’, provides a constructive critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the policy proposals of the NDP and of the underlying diagnostic studies on which it is based. The NPC proposed the NDP to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.

Addressing a media briefing at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory on Wednesday, Casac chairperson Dr Sipho Pityana outlined the issues the report would focus on.

One of the key issues outlined in Casac’s submission to the NPC is land reform. “The NDP does not cover land issues. Its recommendations are inadequate,” Pityana said. According to the report, land tenure security remained a major threat to the land programme, and it suggested that the NDP address this risk.

Another sticking issue covered by the report, is human settlements. Pityana said the idea of free housing was financially unsustainable. The report made several recommendations that could be used to address the issue of housing. It suggested that there was scope for structuring an income-based, as opposed to an interest rate-based, financing instrument for home ownership.

Casac also highlighted unemployment as an issue that needed further planning. The NGO says the probability of creating 11-million additional jobs is slim. It recommends that the NPC put more emphasis in 'Vision for 2030' on employability, bridging the gap between educational qualifications and occupational competence.

On the fight against corruption, Casac reiterated that an independent anti-corruption agency be established. Pityana has called on citizens to become involved in the fight against corruption. “The fight against corruption will never end if citizens are not actively involved,” he said.

Anti-apartheid activist and Freedom Under Law member Dr Mamphela Ramphele also addressed the briefing on social services, saying many South Africans depended on social grants, but that the system is unsustainable. She recommended that the NDP look at other sustainable ways of aiding recipients.

She noted, too, that citizens were missing in action. “We need to confront those things that prevent us from being the country that we can be,” Ramphele concluded.