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After a long and explained delay, the Presidency has this week released the 2009 Development Indicators Report. Two things are evident from it:
• First, it appears the Presidency has chosen to manipulate data and to present cherry-picked information. This is in direct contradiction with a recent undertaking made by the Presidency in the green paper on government performance that " there would be enhanced citizen oversight through an increased publication of outcomes data."
• Second, it is clear from a lot of the data contained in this report that national government is failing when it comes to creating real opportunities for all South Africans.

What follows is an overview of the report, with regards to each of the key delivery areas. In each area we have set out what the report says and then, below it, either contradictory evidence in the report itself or key facts overlooked by the Presidency in presenting its information.

Read in this manner, it appears the report is nothing more than a failed attempt to window dress the stark reality that faces South Africa's citizens.

1. Job creation

What the report says:

The report claims that government's expanded public works programme (EPWP) has exceeded its 1 million target creating 1.65 million work opportunities which it claims eased the negative impact of the recession on unemployment.

The problem:

The report fails to provide any data on what type of work opportunities were created, what the average period of employment was for these work opportunities and what percentage of participants gained full-time jobs once they completed the programme. In other words, the 1.65 million figure is window dressing and of little help in assessing the real nature of unemployment and government's response to it. The fact is that, since the EPWP programme was launched in September 2004, government has managed to reduce unemployment by just 7.2% (broad definition of unemployment).

Further, the Presidency also admits that 267 000 jobs were lost in the 2nd quarter of 2009, as a result of the recession and this obviously has had a detrimental effect on the country's already high unemployment rate of 32.5% (broad definition of employment).

2. Provision of basic services

2.1. Housing

What the report says:

That in light of government intensifying its efforts to accelerate the delivery of housing to the poor, the cumulative total of housing units complete or in progress reached 2.8 million units in March 2009.

The problem:

This figure is unhelpful because the report fails to state what percentage of the total number of units under construction have actually been completed and can therefore be occupied by people.

What the report says:

Government states that close to a million units have been completed or are under construction since 2004/2005.

The problem:

The report also reveals that 433 000 more households are presently living in informal dwellings than in 2004. Government is clearly lagging when it comes to eliminating the housing backlog. This backlog is exacerbated by the fact that a large number of the houses built by government are of such poor quality that they basically have to be rebuilt after a few years.

What the report says:

The report reveals that the number of housing beneficiaries approved has increased each year with 2 117 462 beneficiaries having been approved in 2008/2009.

The problem:

It doesn't indicate how many people applied to be beneficiaries each year, which means it is impossible to determine government's success in eliminating this application backlog.

2.2. Water and Sanitation

When it comes to providing potable water and sanitation to all South Africans, a study of the previous Development Indicators reports that have been released reveals that the ANC government has simply shifted the goals it set originally as it had failed to achieve these goals.

What the report says:

The 2009 report states that government will supply potable water and access to basic sanitation facilities to all South Africans by 2014.

The problem:

The 2007 report stated that government would supply potable water to everyone by 2008 and that all South Africans would have access to basic sanitation facilities by 2010.

Further, with regards to each of these undertakings:
• Provision of water: 8.1% (1 069 152 households) of households in South Africa are still either without any water infrastructure or with water infrastructure below the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) standards.
• Sanitation: Just over 3 million households still do not have access to proper sanitation and there has only been a 6.4% increase in households that have access since 2004.

In other words it appears highly unlikely that government will provide the outstanding 22.9% of households with proper sanitation by 2014. Indeed, 9 044 households are also still using the bucket system.

3. HIV/Aids

What the report says:

With regard to reducing the HIV/Aids prevalence rate the Presidency only refers, in its trend analysis, to the data contained in the Department of Health's antenatal survey, last released in 2007, arguing that HIV prevalence had decreased between 2005 and 2007.

The problem:

The report also contains data compiled by Stats SA which estimates the exact opposite -that there has been a 1.3 increase in HIV prevalence since 2001.

Not only is it a major cause for concern that the Department of Health has failed to provide figures on HIV prevalence since 2007, and that the figures that are provided appear to be flawed, the report also contains no data on government's anti-retroviral programme. This is despite the fact that the Presidency claims its ARV programme is one of the main reasons for the decrease in HIV prevalence and Aids related deaths. This lack of data means that despite billions of rands being spent on this programme each year, its success cannot be determined due to the lack of information provided by the Presidency.

4. Good Governance

What the report says:

South Africa fell eleven places on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index to 54th position out of 180 countries. The Presidency has tried to justify this huge drop by arguing that this perception is in part formed because government is extremely transparent when it comes to exposing corrupt incidences which obviously increases public awareness about corruption.

The problem:

The fact that government, more often than not, fails to take any action against public representatives found guilty of corruption suggests that it is taking credit for something it is not responsible for, if anything, it downplays corruption. Good examples, being those implicated in both the Travelgate and Oilgate scandals.

Conclusion

The ANC government has a long and detailed history of trying to manipulate statistics to suggest it is delivering, when in fact it is not. When contrary statistics are presented, the ANC acts to malign those who presented them, by suggesting they are operating with ulterior motives and ill-intent, instead of dealing with the facts. Often the ANC government prevents information or statistics from coming to light at all, in the hope that their suppression will help improve the ANC government's image.

All of these trends are evident in the 2009 Development Indicators and the way they have been handled. Not only was its release delayed, when it was published it seems to describe a different world to the one in which most South Africans live. That much of that contradictory information is contained in the report itself, says a great deal about the extent to which the government is in touch with ordinary South Africans and its ability to properly evaluate its own service delivery record.