South Africa’s Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) for the period 2014 to 2019, that is expected to be released within the next three weeks, will carry forward the spirit of the National Development Plan (NDP), National Planning Commission Secretariat acting head Khulekani Mathe said on Wednesday.

He said the document would propose measures to accelerate the country’s economic growth and emphasised the need to invest in infrastructure, particularly with regard to energy and logistics.

Mathe added that the MTSF also promoted investment in education and skills along with building the country’s institutional capability, as was envisaged in the NDP.

“The MTSF is in line with the NDP, it is a government plan that says we are serious about tackling the challenges that this economy faces and we want to reach those really tough targets of the NDP,” he said, adding that producing these documents was, however, not enough.

“We need to do more than just put words on paper. [Planning for the future] is about getting our hands dirty, getting down to work and identifying the problems that are preventing us from the kind of growth and development levels that our peer countries are able to achieve,” he stated.