An ECPC Discussion Document

11/29/2013 A Strategic Perspectiveand Propositionstowards Vision 2030 forthe Eastern CapeAn ECPC Discussion Document

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE & PREFACE ...............................................................................................................................i

1. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND .................................................................................................... 1

ECPC Process.......................................................................................................................................... 1

Purpose of Document............................................................................................................................. 2

Organisation of Document ..................................................................................................................... 3

2. RATIONALE, CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORKS..................................................................................... 4

2.1 Basic considerations.............................................................................................................. 4

2.1.1 Policy enablers ...................................................................................................................... 5

(i) The South African Constitution ....................................................................................................... 5

(ii) The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP)............................................................ 6

(iii) The Vision 2030 National Development Plan (NDP)..................................................................... 6

(iv) The New Growth Path (NGP)....................................................................................................... 6

(v) The Eastern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) ........................................... 7

2.2 Limitations and context .......................................................................................................... 7

3. OVERVIEW OF THE EASTERN CAPE................................................................................................. 10

3.1 Distinctive attributes............................................................................................................. 11

3.1.1 A history of resilience and resistance............................................................................ 11

Pre-colonial era.................................................................................................................................... 11

Colonial and apartheid disfigurement................................................................................................... 12

Democratic South Africa....................................................................................................................... 13

3.1.2 Physical Attributes ........................................................................................................ 15

Water stock.......................................................................................................................................... 15

Biodiversity .......................................................................................................................................... 15

Extensive Coastline............................................................................................................................... 15

Mineral and energy resources .............................................................................................................. 16

Agriculture and forestry potential ........................................................................................................ 16

Economic infrastructure ....................................................................................................................... 18

3.2 Development Challenges..................................................................................................... 20

3.2.1 A conceptual framework ............................................................................................... 20

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030

3.2.2 Summary of Challenges & Issues ................................................................................. 21

3.2.3 The abyss if we do nothing ........................................................................................... 32

4. PATHWAYS TO ACTION ................................................................................................................... 34

4.1 Principles, Assumptions and Process .................................................................................. 34

Social and economic justice .......................................................................................................... 34

Policy and strategic alignment ...................................................................................................... 34

Balance continuity against necessary ruptures.............................................................................. 36

Evidence-based decision............................................................................................................... 36

Participatory, citizen-centred development .................................................................................. 36

Accountability............................................................................................................................... 36

Insularity against irrational political whim..................................................................................... 36

4.2 Vision, Outcomes, Goals & Strategic Actions....................................................................... 38

4.2.1 Preconditions to successful development planning and implementation ....................... 38

Citizen-centred focus: ................................................................................................................... 38

Capable, integrated state action ................................................................................................... 38

Multi-agent compact for development ......................................................................................... 39

4.2.2 Key Priorities for Province............................................................................................. 39

(i) Improvement of education ........................................................................................................... 39

(ii) Redistributive Economic Growth, Economic Independence & Job Creation ............................... 39

(iii) Rural development ................................................................................................................... 40

4.2.3 Summary of development actions for prioritisation........................................................ 41

Development Outcomes.............................................................................................................. 42

Quality Education & Training................................................................................................................ 42

Equitable and inclusive spatial and economic development: ................................................................ 44

Multi-agent, citizen-centred partnership for development: .................................................................. 45

Quality Health: ..................................................................................................................................... 46

5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................... 48

Some References .................................................................................................................................... 49

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | PROLOGUE & PREFACE i

PROLOGUE & PREFACE

Yeha ke abalusi abaye bazalusa ngokwabo... amanqatha niyawadla..., umhlambi aniwalusi...

(‘woe be to the shepherds that feed themselves... ye eat the fat... but feed not the flock’)

Niyabubona ububi esikubo (‘see the distress we are in’)...

Masisuke sakhe (‘let us rise up and build’)

mindful that –

Isikali esikhohlisayo singamasikizi... (‘a false balance is an abomination’)

Ilitye elizeleyo lilikholo... (‘a just weight is a delight’)...

These opening quotes are taken from the Christian bible – Ezekiel 34: 2-3, Nehemia 2:17, and

Proverbs 11:1 respectively. The message we would like to appropriate, however, and the meaning

thereof, we believe to be a universally relevant one extending beyond the Christian creed1. We would

like to draw attention to three points to be carried into the reading of the document presented here:

Firstly, the opening quote is an admonishment against the abuse of power and a predominant concern

with the selfish interests of the powerful – by dint of political power, material wealth, or both. Such

abuse and selfishness have been a recurring cause of societal strife over the course of human history,

and the troubles of modern society – South Africa and the region of the Eastern Cape included – are

no exception. In the case of the ruling elite and those charged with the administration of public affairs,

the opening line is also a reminder on their accountability to the citizenry. A drift from accountable

stewardship opens up society to all kinds of abuse, distress and grief, inclusive of the downfall of the

abusers as warned further on in a reading of the allegory in the bible.

Secondly, in the first line of next quote we are called upon to see and correctly name the nature of the

‘distress we are in’ – material as well as our alienation from self and sense of inter-connectedness in

all manner of manifestation – ukubona nokuvuma imeko esikuyo as a necessary precondition to

ukwakha – healing and rebuilding. We are called upon to identify and understand the sources of our

troubled condition – in the lasting imprint of a colonially and apartheid-inspired dispossession and

dislocation of communities, disfigurement of society and economy, as well as consequential

imbalances of psyche that manifest in all manner of self-defeating behaviour. We are called upon to

understand how successor arrangements in global and local regimes, and the thinking that underpins

the organisation of economy, politics and institutions, impact our condition and future. We are also

called upon, though, to consider how own-inspired thinking and behaviour casts its own fog on our

ability to properly understand and/or address the condition of ‘distress we are in’. While history has

1Three major religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism would identify with the section of the Christian bible from which

these lines are taken. Some will further point the origins of these monotheistic religions to African and Egyptianantecedents that are generally acknowledged to have charted the path for the civilization that is the inheritance of thewhole of humankind today (see Ben-Jochannan, Oduyoye & Finch, 1988 and Sabbah & Sabbah, 2000). Embracive of allthese religions as these lines may be, however, they are used here for their appeal to our essential human sentiment –ubuntu.

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | PROLOGUE & PREFACE ii

bequeathed us lots of skews, we have also seen a number come up as new features of the post-1994

democratic order, positive changes notwithstanding.

In the second line of the second quote we are then called to rise (masisuke) and build (sakhe), in a

call issued to the sum human agency of the collective ‘si’ (‘we’/’us’) – an orientation to decision and

action involving and meant to benefit the whole of ‘us’. Of importance within this call is also a

reaffirmation of the greater public good and – by implication, a re-commitment to prioritising the

uplifting of the poor in all respects – a call to a social compact that will privilege the advancement of

the most deprived in our society as an important guarantor of the well being of all.

In the call to ukwakha should also be a keen awareness

about those central to the future we purport to build –

mainly the youth and generations who will inherit the world

we will leave behind, as well as citizens still marginalised

by dint of location in the physical and social senses. For

the sake of their real freedom and flourish, it is important

that we take care not to merely re-imagine the future

through lenses shaped by a past we are loathe to critically

interrogate, nor present-day arrangements suited only to

the convenience of a powerful few, whatever the claim to

power for such minorities – wealth, gender, ethnicity,

political rents or any other undue and unjustifiable privilege.

It is important therefore that the voices of those

conventionally not heard in such endeavours as discussed

here, are significantly featured – women, the youth and – in

the case of the Eastern Cape, the rural poor.

Thirdly, in the two lines of the third quote, we are called

upon to eschew ‘false balances’ in any means or form they

may present themselves, and strive for ‘a just weight’ –

justice manifest. In other words, there can be no proper

healing, building and sustainable development if based on

‘false balances’ and not holding justice as the end, or

based upon self-examination that is not honest, critical and

thorough.

Against the foregoing it may be asked – are we chasing utopia? But how else can good, peaceful and

successful societies, with conscientious caring leaders and content citizens, manifest in the absence

of an ambition for such ideal? It is this hankering for the ideal that has powered struggles for justice

which have earned this country its present-day democracy, as well as ongoing actions, and even

agitations, to deepen the practical meaning and material effects of this democracy.

A RECOMMITMENT TOFOUNDATIONAL VALUES

we are honest and constructive inreflecting on our condition...

we eschew false balances...

we strive for a just weight befittinga substantive democracycommitted to social and economicjustice...

we reclaim ubuntu, we reaffirm theprimacy of the public good, and callfor the restoration of a humandignity that has been undermined,and continues to be undermined byalienation – both engineered and

self-reproduced...

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND Page | 1

1. INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUNDThe prologue and preface above sets out the spirit within which we would like this document to be

read and discussed, as well as an approach to the task it outlines. This document builds on the

example of the National Development Plan (NDP) put out by the National Planning Commission

(NPC), and now generally acknowledged as a key roadmap for the future development of the Republic

of South Africa, contestations on certain elements and positions of the NDP notwithstanding. The

document sets out the Eastern Cape Planning Commission’s (ECPC) intent to facilitate the generation

of a shared understanding of the condition of the Eastern Cape, its developmental needs, as well how

to address these towards building a sustainable future for the province. Just as the NPC – appointed

in 2010 – was tasked by the President of the Republic of South Africa to ‘develop a vision of what the

country should look like in 2030, and a plan for achieving that vision’2, so too has the ECPC been

mandated by the Premier of the Eastern Cape with articulating a long term development plan for the

province, to be realised through a collective commitment to development action that will draw on the

multiple energies of citizens and key institutions of our society.

ECPC Process: The ECPC has mapped out its work in four related key processes and actions

summarised in the following graphic:

2See page 5 of the NPC’s Diagnostic Overview, 2010

ECPCProcess

Inclusive DIALOGUEas constant refrain

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND Page| 2

A commitment to continuous engagement is maintained across all phases of the above framework.

Underpinning this framework for planning, action and cross-accountability is also a call to active

participation by, as well as an ongoing critical dialogue among citizens and all key stakeholders in the

public life and development of the Province. The framework should further be underpinned by a

conscious agitation of a return to our essential qualities and values as humans – justice, empathy,

treating each other with decency and fairness, a commitment to truth3 and forthrightness in examining

our condition, in setting up the public good as paramount, and in dedicating ourselves to attaining a

just-weight and future of shared flourish for all. No simplistic assumption is being made here about

some utopian sameness in the ideal of ‘flourish for all’. But a stand is being taken on the necessity of

basic thresholds of material capability to guarantee decent livelihoods.

Purpose of Document: This document is mainly concerned with the first two phases of the four-part

process set out in the framework. Through a collective and participatory process of reflecting on our

human condition and the material conditions of the province, we wish to establish a common

understanding about the key challenges that face us, against strengths, innate resources and potential

that we have, en route to developing the provincial long term plan. The main aim of this document is

therefore two-fold:

Firstly, this document aims to stimulate a multi-pronged process that will raise and focus key issues

which should be addressed by a long-term vision and plan for the development of the Eastern

Cape. These issues are presented in summarised form in this document, with further detailcaptured in an ECPC document titled ‘A Diagnostic Overview of the Eastern Cape’, as well as a

number of detailed sectoral reports.

The process of raising the issues and key questions has unfolded through research exercises that

have probed various facets of the public life of the province, through analyses, as well as through

discussion. It has also involved, and will continue to involve citizens and many stakeholders in aseries of structured engagements and deliberative conversations – iincoko, iimbadu, as well as

other related activities intended to rekindle the spirit of active, critical engagement with important

matters of self and societal development by citizens of the Eastern Cape. The questions and issues

raised and discussed are also considered against the backdrop of the NDP as a key point of

reference, keenly mindful though of a very public debate that has ensued around some aspects of

the NDP4. At the same time, the development of the Provincial Plan is also tapping useful global

comparative examples of approaches taken to resolve challenges similar to those that face us.

A second aim of the document is to raise and offer for interrogation a number of starting

propositions on pathways and strategies to consider in plotting the future of the Province’s

response to the key questions and issues raised above – propositions that will be building blocks

3and the “courage (and freedom of conscience) to look each other straight in the eye”, as Cabral advised on the

importance of honesty as a precondition to success in any social or political project (see Cabral, 1979 – Unity & Struggle:Speeches and Writings, 2

nded. 2007:107)

4In a debate sometimes embroidered with ‘all or nothing threats’ regarding the suitability of appropriating the NDP as

development guide, the SACP has for one weighed in with a sober view on the importance of a constructive criticalreading of the NDP, anchored in principled stances on the requisites of a progressive and more equitable politicaleconomy than currently holds sway in South Africa and globally (see ‘let’s not monumentalise the National DevelopmentPlan’, in Bua Komanisi! Vol.8 Issue No.1, May 2013).

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND Page| 3

for the provincial Vision 2030 Plan as aligned with the NDP. These propositions on pathways

will essentially be two-fold: on the one hand, will be presented propositions seeking to improve

things within systems as extant, while on the other hand, will be presented ideas that break

significantly with current arrangements and practice. Consideration of all these propositions is

meant to happen through a transparent and inclusive process.

Organisation of Document: Against the foregoing introduction on the purposes of this document, the

principles underpinning its development and indeed the whole process of the ECPC and its intended

outcome, as well as the rigorous participatory methodology suggested for the ECPC process, in the

remaining sections of this document we then present the following order of things –

❷ Rationale, context and frameworksIn this section of the document we first reiterate the case for the long-term planning intendedthrough the NDP and the ECPC, against a consideration of enabling and delimiting factors

Next, we set out a brief overview of the Eastern Cape and the macro context against which ananalysis of the Province and its planning needs should be considered

❸Overview on Attributes and ChallengesWe open this section with an overview on some important attributes of the province againstwhich to consider the development of a vision and long term plan

We then present a summarised set of key challenges confronting the Eastern Cape, againstprincipal challenges identified in the NDP, organised along a conceptual framework that setsout key focus areas around which we leverage both an analysis of current condition of theProvince, as well as vision and long term plan

❹ Pathways to actionThe final section then presents some starting propositions around actionable possibilities –pathways, options and strategy to consider in the development of the Provincial Vision 2030Plan. As part of this exercise, we also pose implications and options for certain choices, aswell as ideas on appropriate agency and relationships that can underpin a workable socialcompact for a realisation of the objectives of the province’s long term plan

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | Rationale, context and frameworks Page| 4

2. RATIONALE, CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORKSThere are two broad markers to the set of questions, issues and propositions we want to raise in this

document, as well as consider through a series of conversations and other related exercises. First,

are certain factors relating to the public and policy space within which we drive the provincial planning

process, inclusive of key challenges confronting South Africa’s overall development as set out in the

NDP and other related presentations. Second, is an understanding of the Eastern Cape as a unique

socio-historical, political and geo-economic or spatial entity, and the implications of such for long-term

development planning. Let us look at each of these in turn.

2.1 Basic considerations

Planning – long and short term – is about developing pathways and strategies within which

aspirations and ambitions for the future can be realised. As is the case with the rest of South Africa,

and indeed many societies across the globe, the Eastern Cape faces a number of development

challenges owing to a range of causes historic and current. Most of these challenges are the

consequences of human errors of judgement, miscalculation and even recklessness. They often

occur when there is no conscious will towards balance and justice, when there are lapses in thinking

of our world and its endowments as a shared inheritance, when there are lapses in carefully

considering the effect of our plans and actions on others, when there is a clash of self interest among

a plethora of differing interest groups and actors – most of whom may not be even consciously aware

of others or their interests, values and perspectives, when there is ignorance, or when there is just

sheer ill-will as happens in the case of oppressive regimes. Challenges, caused and fostered as they

are by humans and the entities and organisations that prop up and/or sustain us, are thus possible to

address once the human will to resolve them is marshalled. Other necessary wherewithal – material

resources, other human capabilities such as skills, as well as institutional capabilities – then become

less difficult to systematically marshal to the human development project once the will and vision for

human good and fairness is consciously central to the human development project.

The changes desired can become manifest quite quickly – a decisive commitment to creating and

maintaining a culture of ethical politics in itself representing an important step towards shifting a

society from being stuck. Against this it becomes possible to also work at a gradual change in

consciousness, attitude and approach, and breaking from habits that may constrain development

even at the critical level of our individual and several orientation to agency. Other necessary

changes, such as a systematic development of an educated and skilled citizenry to drive and sustain

development, as well as the promotion of innovation, may of course take longer to bear fruit. But

even with the latter, it is important, as argued in the 2009 Green Paper on National Strategic

Planning, to ‘carefully identify the decisions (from a pro-developmental and ethical stance, we may

add) that need to be taken today (and tomorrow) in order to effect the desired changes in the future’.

The Green Paper on National Strategic Planning further reminds us that the development of a long

term vision and plan, backed by the requisite will and political consciousness that privileges the

collective human interest and the well-being of the ecological universe that sustains us, can provide a

strong basis for mobilizing citizens and institutions around a commonly agreed set of long-term goals.


Such vision and plan can also provide a means for a constructive weighing of trade-offs between

competing objectives and interests, against of course a realistic appreciation of how power can

influence planning processes and their outcomes. It is important, therefore, that the principle of just-

weight is upheld even in a balanced representation of voices participating in the shaping of plans

around public futures.

Last, we are also reminded that the long term plan can be a good device for facilitating a sensible

sequencing of development programming decisions.

2.1.1 Policy enablers

The development of the long term plan for the province occurs against the background of a complex

history of the South African nation and this province, and a legacy that is the inevitable outcome of a

calculated and systematic fracturing of society during colonial and apartheid rule. We plan against

the backdrop of a resultant legacy of race, class and regional cleavages and unevenness that will

persist for some time to come. But the planning also occurs within the context of an elaborate set of

policies aimed at dismantling this legacy through guiding planning and other actions at each of the

three spheres of governance and public life.

The ECPC principally draws from a number of policies that speak boldly to addressing our present

condition of want as well as a reconfiguration of the structural scaffoldings of our inherited legacy.

Among these are –

(i) The South African Constitution and its guarantees of basic freedoms and rights. This

document carries the most phenomenal vision, as well as boldest and most comprehensive

statement ever set out in the history of this nation to guide human and public conduct in the

interest of, and to the equal benefit of all citizens of this country – living and to come. The

Constitution and its commitment to justice, basic rights and freedoms, is itself the culmination of

a number of consistent demands that have been pressed in the interests of a humanising

freedom over the many dark years of colonial and apartheid tyranny that preceded the dawn of

democracy in 19945. Going beyond a concern with human well-being, and in signalling a

comprehensive quest for a just-weight, the Constitution is also very clear in the balance it seeks

for an ecological equilibrium that will also ensure protection and sustainable use of theenvironment for ‘justifiable’ social and economic ends, ‘for the benefit of present and future

generations’ (RSA Constitution, ss. 24(b)).

All other policy pronouncements, strategies and plans crafted for the new democratic nation

then flow from the basic promise and premises of, as well as exhortation to a consciousness for

justice by the Constitution. A familiarity with this foundational document, and reading it to own

and live its message6, can still tremendously enhance the quality of our decisions and actions –

both individual and collective, as well as both public and private. Reading the Constitution thus

can also help improve the quality of our relationships.

5 The African Claims of 1943 and the Freedom Chapter of 1955 are pertinent examples here.

6‘Reading’ here is used in its literal and metaphorical senses – noting that there is an unevenness in the ability of

citizens to read the written word, it is important that the potentially empowering message of the Constitution alsobe propagated through a host of other creative means, so that all may own and live its message.


(ii) The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). The RDP, sharing the vision of the

Constitution that was only formalised after the crafting of the RDP, as well as furthering the

vision of the 1952 Freedom Charter from which it derived its original inspiration, formed the

programme of action for the ANC-led government immediately following the 1994 elections. It

was developed with inputs from grassroots activists and trade unions, and aimed to harness the

energies of all classes of a highly mobilised civil society. The RDP had five key components:

meeting basic needs, developing human resources, building an inclusive economy,

democratizing the state and society, and building the necessary institutional framework for

implementing the RDP itself (RSA, 1994). The inspiring call to action of the RDP, and the

priorities raised in that programme, remain relevant and continue to find expression in many

policy and planning documents to this day, even as the implementation thereof is still found to

be wanting in a number of important respects.

(iii) The Vision 2030 National Development Plan (NDP). The NDP (RSA, 2012), represents the

most recent iteration of an overall vision as well as long term planning framework for the country

in the wake of the Constitution, the RDP and the GEAR7 macro policy documents. The NDP

sets out six interlinked priorities: (i) uniting all South Africans around a common programme to

achieve prosperity and equity (ii) promoting active citizenry to strengthen development,

democracy and accountability, (iii) bringing about faster economic growth, higher investment

and greater labour absorption, (iv) focusing on key capabilities of people and the state, (v)

building a capable and developmental state, and (vi) encouraging strong leadership throughout

society to work together to solve problems. The ECPC process has been aligned with that of the

NPC, and aims to give regional (provincialised) effect to the designs of the NDP.

(iv) The New Growth Path (NGP). The NGP (RSA 2010b) speaks more specifically to the economy

and aids the NDP in its elaboration of detail on this subject. The NGP was developed in

recognition of the major changes required in South Africa to create decent work, reduce

inequality and defeat poverty. The NGP is a bold and imaginative strategy to restructure the

economy to improve its productive as well as labour absorptive capacity through an ambitious

industrialisation, transform participation patterns as well as the composition of the drivers of the

economy, and accelerate the rate of economic growth in the medium term to long term. The

strategy sets out priorities for job creation and economic growth, and also suggests changes in

production that can generate a more inclusive and greener economy in the medium to long

term. The NGP prioritises employment creation through the following sectors: (i) infrastructure,

(ii) the agricultural value chain, (iii) the mining value chain, (iv) the green economy, (v)

manufacturing sectors, as well as (vi) tourism and certain high-level services. For the province,

the NGP provides impetus for addressing the structural limitations associated with the Eastern

Cape’s location on the margins of, and its under-contribution to South Africa’s productive formal

economy.

7There has been much controversy over the GEAR policy in particular, with critics mainly slagging its ‘fiscal over-

cautiousness and other features deemed to be more in keeping with a conservative strain of economics oftenignored even in the countries which host the institutions that prescribe this economic medicine for developingcountries such as South Africa. Defenders, on the other hand, will cite responsible fiscal stewardship as having beennecessary to give the South African economy the cushion of stability that has even made it possible to expand itscapability for social spend.


(v) The Eastern Cape Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP). The PGDP was aimed

at providing an overarching framework for socio-economic development in the Eastern Cape.

The PGDP is a decadal development plan, 2004-2014, focusing on six core objectives:

agricultural transformation, poverty eradication, manufacturing diversification, infrastructure

development, transforming the public sector and developing human resources. It can be said to

have been perhaps the first attempt at comprehensive long term planning managed at the level

of Province. Among criticisms directed towards the PGDP was that its implementation was

compromised by the lack of a strong driving and monitoring centre, an inability to carefully

programme and budget for implementation actions, and a continuing to integrate government

actions across departments and between the three spheres of government including misaligned

planning cycles and budget priorities. Furthermore, the PGDP was largely a government-driven

programme and can be said not to have sufficiently mobilised and committed other stakeholders

to a shared implementation process. These are pitfalls the new Vision 2030 Plan should avoid

repeating.

2.2 Limitations and context

Against the foregoing rationale and policy enablers, however, there are a several limitations to long

term planning at provincial and even local level which may constrain the province both in the

development and execution of such a plan.

• First, provincial planning takes place within the scope of the powers and functions bestowed to

provinces and the local sphere in the Constitution. As such, there will be a number of public

policy issues and determinative capabilities that lie beyond the decision-making power of the

province, and for whose resolution the province is dependent on the efficiencies of central

(national) decision-makers and the whims thereof. One key implication here is that the Eastern

Cape needs to sharpen its strategy and technical arguments to effectively lobby for a fair share of

resources or legislative and related enablers to address its developmental needs.

Against the reality of the subordination of provincial decisions to the national sphere of

leadership, are also broader global geopolitics and the economics and power relations thereof.

These further delimit possible spaces for development choices, policy and action by the country

as a whole, while constraining provincial choices and decisions even tighter. This among others

suggests that the province needs to sharpen its intelligence and networking capabilities in order

to keep abreast of, and exploit strategic opportunities in the supra-national political economy. In

the latter regard, the ECPC’s Diagnostic Overview focuses attention to, among others, a strategic

opportunity occasioned by conjunctural pressures as well as changes in the structure and

functioning of the global economy. The Diagnostic Overview points for instance to a worldwide

economic tumult and the emergence of new economic power centres as presenting models that

beckon a break with orthodoxies that are now proving inadequate and have in part led to the

current uncertainty in the global economy. The Diagnostic Overview further points to the need

for innovative thinking as well as institutional alliances that can better buttress a sustainable

development consonant with the peculiarities of our region, while also being responsive to more

global concerns around sustainable development. Against these, the Overview also advises on

the importance of carefully managing pressures that come with a society growing increasingly

impatient in the face of poverty, a deepening inequality and other associated socio-economic ills.


• Second, the limits of the provincial fiscus: There are two major sources of funds for the provincial

fiscal purse, namely – revenue appropriated from central government, and own-earned revenue

from local and regional charges for services. A key constraint surrounding the former is that,

even if the determination of provincial allocations is fairer than pre-democracy, a standardisation

of key determining variables may make for allocations that do not sufficiently recognise certain

regional differences that may warrant deviations from averaged norms. For example, it is fair to

still call for targeted allocations to jumpstart regions such as the Eastern Cape, deserving on

account of certain untapped competitive advantages, against inherited disadvantages that still

require special attention. A key constraint surrounding the second revenue stream is that the

regional economy and its locales is so significantly underdeveloped as not to generate much that

can be applied to development needs. This once again suggests that the province needs to up

its technical wherewithal to develop compelling arguments for lobbying outside of mainstream

allocations.

• Third, the capability limitations of the state, citizens, and even business: This document

elaborates on these in the section dedicated to a more thorough interrogation of key areas of

focus for the ECPC.

• Fourth, stalemates encountered when there are

inadequacies in fashioning a contextually relevant paradigm and

praxis of development, or when there is a lack of mechanisms to

mediate competing interests in favour of the greater public good –

when we fail to properly define and fashion a reciprocal just weight.

An example here could be our underdeveloped capabilities to

manage what is a truly participatory planning, implementation and

accountability process that can yield and sustain equitable socio-

economic outcomes; the absence of which can only lead to a

widening of the chasm between classes and groups in our society.

• Fifth, and very important, is a political environment in the province that is stubbornly unstable and

not conducive to planning, development and due accountability. The underlying factors are

treated in the ‘Diagnostic Overview of the Eastern Cape’ and summarised further on in this

document, but it is important that dedicated work be accorded the development and consolidation

of an enabling political culture to ensure success with such endeavours as undertaken through

the Vision 2030 process. Otherwise, even if the technical capabilities motivated here are to be

developed and/or attracted, their effect will always be compromised in the absence of such

conducive political culture.

• Sixth, and closely related to the second point above, is the historical burden the province

continues to carry from an amalgamation of two big former homelands, the consequences of

which were perhaps not adequately planned for nor addressed in the post-apartheid period (in

contradistinction to the damage that was deliberately planned under apartheid). We may have

not sufficiently interrogated, for instance, implications for a reorientation of bureaucratic culture

for civil servants absorbed from that system, nor a due political conscientisation process for a

post-liberation cadre that has swelled the numbers of the ruling and other political parties post-

1994 – what driving motivations and sensibilities are at play here? is the driving motive to enter

politics largely self-serving, or a function of popular party persuasion, or a will to truly serve the

without greater

economic inclusion

(and equity), social

cohesion is a bridge

too far... (Frank

Mentjies, 2013)


public? if some combination of these, as is likely, how are such combinations amenable to a

desired agenda of development? what are the predominant political parties doing to cultivate a

psycho-political orientation befitting for service to the development project? To what degree

therefore may we have either enriched or compromised prospects for a progressive and just

development, an effective and efficient bureaucracy, or constructive political partnerships post-

1994, e.g. between state, labour and civil society?

These factors, and other related ones either mentioned or not mentioned in this document, we need

to stay alert to, and resist lazy analyses as well as assessments of ‘possibility’ that may lead to the

false balances warned against in the opening section of this document. At the same time, however,

it is important that the delimitations suggested above are not used as an excuse to avoid pushing for

choices and actions that hold the best hope for the development of our people in this province as

well as areas beyond the province that may be positively impacted by developments in, and lessons

to be learnt for the Eastern Cape.

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | Overview of the Eastern Cape Page| 10

3. OVERVIEW OF THE EASTERN CAPEAfter nineteen years of democracy, we lay claim to a South Africa that has seen significant

improvement since the dawn of democracy in 1994. Such improvement is most particularly

pronounced in how the state has been turned around from being the prime instrument of repression

and societal destruction as was characteristic of the calculations of the oppressive colonial and

apartheid regimes of the past who presided over a project of gross injustice that spanned centuries in

this country. While the journey of righting this society, its underpinning economy as well as its cultural

and bureaucratic ethos is a work-in-progress that will take some time

before a comprehensive justice is realized for all, there has been

significant progress made in opening up freedoms, in attaining a fair

degree of peace, as well as evenly extending social amenities and

public services in a manner respectful of the equality of the welfare of

all citizens of this nation. The Eastern Cape has also similarly

progressed, both as a result of the implementation of a range of policy

and programme interventions, as well as because of a number of

features which collectively make the province unique.

Yet significant challenges still confront the nation. The diagnostic

summary contained in the National Development Plan (NDP) sets out

nine primary challenges facing South Africa:

1) Too few people work

2) The quality of school education for black people is poor

3) Infrastructure is poorly located, inadequate and under-maintained

4) Spatial divides hobble inclusive development – also in EC

5) The economy is unsustainably resource intensive

6) The public health system cannot meet demand or sustain quality

7) Public services are uneven and often of poor quality

8) Corruption levels are high

9) South Africa remains a divided society

The NDP urges that these challenges be addressed in an integrated manner, but goes on to single out

the first two as being of particular high priority. The people of the Eastern Cape will largely agree with

the above framing of challenges by the NPC. Against such agreement, however, the ECPC also

seeks to facilitate a common understanding of how the above challenges play themselves out and are

particularly experienced in the Eastern Cape, so that the solutions crafted – while aiming at a vision

consistent with the NDP’s, are also sufficiently cognisant of, and responsive to the specific needs of

the Eastern Cape.

Before we look deeper into these though, we want to reflect on a number of attributes we consider

important to factor into the development of a long term plan for the province.

we now lay claim to a

South Africa and

province that has seen

significant

improvement since

1994 ....

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | Development Challenges Page| 11

3.1 Distinctive attributes

We purposefully foreground the main challenges that confront the province against an articulation of a

range of unique features and assets that point to a potential for the Province to achieve flourishing in

the medium to long term. We invoke these to inspire as well as provide hope and morale, which are

necessary for purposeful action for a better future, rather than to diminish the scale of the challenges

that confronts the province. While there are many attributes of the province worthy of mention, for

purposes of this discussion document we will treat the following two:

A history of resilience and resistance

Physical attributes

3.1.1 A history of resilience and resistance

History here – in its honest, balanced and inclusive articulation, is invoked for its potential to inspire

as well as provide hope and morale, which are necessary for purposeful action for a better future,

rather than invoking history as an uncritical ‘return to the source’ for its own sake, as was

admonished by Cabral (1979). In particular, we consider the utility of four major epochs that

characterise the history of South and Southern Africa as a shared space.

Pre-colonial era: First, are positive ideas we need to mine from this country’s and region’s pre-

colonial past, the first epoch we wish to invoke for inspiration. This is a past that saw organised

social formations, sophisticated nation-building, as well as scientific, cultural, political and economic

development that evolved over millennia. Most of this memory has been obliterated through colonial

destruction8, or even distorted, notwithstanding some evidence of stubborn remnants of this past9.

The importance of a re-conscientisation and re-learning project to reconnect with this story of our

past and its inspirational value is underscored in the following extract from Cheikh Anta Diop (1981,

p3), one of the greatest African thinkers of the modern era:

For us, the return to Egypt in all domains is the necessary condition for reconciling Africancivilisations with history, in order to be able to construct a body of modern human sciences and

in order to renovate African culture. Far from revelling in the past, a look toward the Egypt ofantiquity is the best way to conceive and build our cultural future.... ‘most of the ideas that wecall foreign are oftentimes nothing but mixed up, reversed, modified, elaborated images of the

creations of our African ancestors – such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, dialectics, the theoryof being, the exact sciences, arithmetic, geometry, mechanical engineering, astronomy,medicine, literature, architecture, the arts etc.

8See among others Chancellor Williams (1987) writing from a broader Africa-wide perspective, and the likes of Noel

Mostert (1992) focusing on the region of the Eastern Cape. A perturbing lacunae in these accounts is a history of theregion that even precedes the Bantu migrations to the southern-most regions of this country – in other words, there stillexists a significant gap in the reconstruction of the story of especially our Khoi and San ancestors.

9A number of writers have had a lot to say, and evidence to offer in supporting this claim. See for example Chancellor

Williams (1987, 1993), Cheikh Anta Diop (1967, 1981), and Theophile Obenga (2004) for sophisticated reconstructions on ageneral African history, and Jeff Peires (1982) on a useful localised account.


While focusing his work in a careful study of Egypt as a centre where

this wisdom and high-culture reached its heights more than 5000 years

ago, Diop in his book repeatedly traces the roots of this civilisation to its

Southern Africa origins, and thus points to our common indebtedness

as humanity to among others our Khoi and San ancestors, whose

influence is still stubbornly evident in the modern Eastern Cape – in the

dominant language of this region, in the art remains, in traces of the

most ancient mine in the world10, and even in the phenotypical features

of many citizens of the Eastern Cape.

Colonial and apartheid disfigurement: Then came two epochs of serious strife and disruption to

the trajectory of development and evolutionary progress of the pre-colonial era. The first of these

was the era of colonial incursions, large-scale dispossession of peoples’ land and other assets, wars

against Africans, destruction of the Africans’ social structure and economies, and the establishment

of a colonial political order that was to stretch over three centuries. This colonial aggression and

domination was seriously resisted over many years by the inhabitants of the region, and history

records that the Eastern Cape and its settled population – the Khoi, San and amaXhosa in particular,

bore the brunt of the wars of resistance against colonial intrusion into Southern Africa11, in other

words, a defence of the greater motherland than merely the immediate region of the then so-called

Cape colony12. The struggles against colonial encroachment waged by the Khoi, San and

AmaXhosa were also to form an important bedrock for the consciousness of nationhood that was to

carry into the modern era of struggle that ultimately yielded democracy in 199413 – a memory and

consciousness of oneness still important to our struggles of today and tomorrow for a humanly

affirming and just development.

The second phase of this era of domination was the apartheid era, where a eurocentric deal between

foreign imperial powers led by the British on the one hand, and naturalised Afrikaner settlers on the

other, was to see an extension of the domination and brutalisation of Africans in body and spirit that

had begun during the colonial phase. This was to last another four decades and some, an era once

again where the resistance continued and found renewed forms of organisation and the building of a

greater political identity among the oppressed across South Africa. Just as the Eastern Cape had led

the resistance to colonial incursions during the colonial phase, so too was the region prominent in the

modern reconstitution of the struggle, with many national heroes and heroines hailing from this

region.

10Diop (1981, p12) reports that 30,000 years ago our ancestors were mining iron in the area now known as Swaziland,

where the most ubiquitous stamp of the Khoi and San – rock art – is also still to be found to the present-day.11

See among others Noel Mostert (1992).12

This story is not dissimilar to that of the Nuba fighting over centuries to defend the interior of the continent against the

colonial incursion of Arabs from the north of Africa (see Williams, 1987)13

This is evident in the story of the two early anti-colonial organisations expressively embracive of the multi-nationalities

of the oppressed – they both had a leadership with strong representation from the Cape regions. These were the AfricanPolitical Organisation (APO) that was mainly led by descendants of the Khoi, San and leaders of mixed race, as well as theAfrican National Congress that came after the APO and led South Africa to its ultimate liberation. In its unifying ideal, theANC’s founding constitution was even more explicit in its commitment to pan-Africanism (see Karis & Gerhart, 1997).

Eastern Cape an

abode of common

ancestors, whose

memory transcends

race, tribe and

nationality...


This memory of civilisation, wisdoms and struggle we seek to better understand14, draw inspiration

and strength from, as well as hold up as a reminder to the success that can be attained when there is

commitment to a clear vision of reclaiming and working towards a dignified future for all.

Democratic South Africa: The final epoch we must invoke is that of the modern democracy we now

are in the process of building, an era of freedom that was ushered in in 1994 as a result of the

successful struggle of the dominated majority in this country, led by the broad liberation movement

and African National Congress as a modern organised political force that had coalesced the hitherto

disparate efforts of cultural groupings15 of the dispossessed around the turn of the last century.

This modern era of democracy is a work-in-progress nineteen years in the making – great strides

have been made, and big challenges still remain to be tackled, mostly owing to a nation working itsway towards finding a new just-weight for all, as counselled by among others Du Bois (1920, p84) in

the following words:

the establishment of a democratic order will bring a “new wisdom, new points of view, and new

interests that will be from time to time bewildering and even confusing... the appearance of newinterests and (even) complaints means disarrangement and confusion to the older ‘equilibrium’,but it is the inevitable preliminary step to that larger equilibrium in which the interests of no human

soul will be neglected. These interests will not, surely be all fully realised, but they will berecognised and given as full weight as the conflicting interests will allow.”

In addition to Du Bois’ anticipatory counsel many decades ago pre decolonisation, however, it is

important to acknowledge that we are also faced with the gigantic task of building a new society and

‘renovating an African culture’ (Diop’s call) against, among others, a big challenge of sensibilities

scarred by an alienation whose destructive reach we may only part comprehend, even as we see itsdisturbing effects. In the words of Professor Luswazi (2013), we are confronted with –

an ‘Alienated Human Condition’ that is a historical colonial/ apartheid (and to some extent postapartheid) phenomenon expressing human brutality, oppression, exclusion as well as lack ofsolidarity, materially manifest in unequal access to the country’s material resources, in class, race,

gender and regional discrepancies, in unequal access to land, health care, good education, goodgovernance, infrastructure, decent human settlements, etc. Psychosocially, alienation manifestsitself through weak social capital, weak ties in human solidarity, in a weakened consciousness of

ubuntu, in struggles to stem the disintegration of the family, in domestic and community violence,rising child-headed families, rising substance abuse, and inadequate social protection and safetywhere community support measures remain weak, thus leaving vast numbers of citizens insecure

and unable to realise the lives they desire. Besides continually pushing down peoples’ sense of selfworth, the alienation and struggle for survival also often results in unethical behaviour linked to a

14 The ECPC is engaging in an ongoing process of researching and learning from the Eastern Cape’s rich history to identifythe main historical forces and agencies that have shaped our present socio-economic reality, and may be relevant tofuture provincial socio-economic planning. The focus is on the cultural and socio-economic development of people of theregion in the past, relating to the scientific knowledge of, as well as individual and social practices around farming, tradeand industry, infrastructure, the socio-economics of labour, utilisation and management of land, etc, and the political andinstitutional organisation that underpinned all this.15 Cultural and nation-groups were disparagingly referred to as ‘tribes’ in colonial lexicography, a term still often useduncritically.


confused or even mischievous sense of entitlement, which can part explain both a tendency

towards, and accommodation of corruption by some, as well as sporadic acts of vandalism by thedisenchanted who feel ‘deserving’. All these are signs of an identity or existential crisis...

Yet, even against the modern-day challenges of building a caring, productive and sustainable

democracy, the memory of the people’s ability to withstand tremendous odds over centuries, and still

rise to re-build, should remain a great source of inspiration as well as source of caution against

counter-progressive temptations and tendencies we should be watchful against. That the latter exist

– at a number of levels of our social strata, and manifest in a number of forms, is also part of the

unfolding narrative of the province in the new democracy. Mindful of this therefore, it is also

important to maintain the necessary humility when drawing strength from the positive history of the

people of this region, and resist the temptation of hegemonic entitlement by dint of a valiant history of

struggle16, as well as having been predominantly in the leadership in the past. Even as we think

about solutions particular to addressing the condition of the Eastern Cape, these are framed within

an awareness of a greater project of the Republic of South Africa to whose success the Eastern

Cape should also contribute.

Back to the positive: While the Eastern Cape is renowned for having being at the forefront of the

resistance against colonialism, the province can also lay claim to have been the birthplace of a

modern African intellectualism in the Southern Africa region. The Eastern Cape is home to

institutions of learning that count among the older institutions on the continent17, and has thus

historically served as a magnet for especially Africans seeking to pursue higher since the turn of the

last century. As a result, the Eastern Cape has also historically led the exporting of educated human

capital across, South Africa, the Southern Africa region as well as other parts of the globe. Many

leaders in politics, academia, government and business hail from the Eastern Cape or have been

nurtured in the Province even in cases where they might have come from outside the province.

Since the 1990s and the removal of a then racially-driven access to institutions of higher learning, the

Eastern Cape’s institutional resources have also been boosted with the opening up and growth of the

four universities18 in the province – inimitable resources of people and knowledge to build upon and

anchor regional development strategies and projects around.

Properly harnessed, all the above-mentioned unique features of the province point to a great

potential for the Eastern Cape to achieve flourishing in the medium to long term. The ECPC will

develop its plan based on these unique features and our continued analysis of what works and what

does not work.

16 All regions of the South Africa were part of this struggle, fiercer as it was in the then Cape region, by historic-geographical circumstance of this region being the frontier with seafarer colonising settlers.17

The province is home to the University of Fort Hare, which is one of the older institutions to have been establishedduring the colonial era in South Africa – in 1916, and was the only one accessible to Africans for some time. There wereother older universities in existence then in South Africa – the University of Cape Town (1827), Stellenbosch (1866)Witwatersrand (1896), Free State (1904) and Rhodes (1904), but they were only meant for whites. Neither could theoldest extant university on the continent – Al Azhar in Egypt, founded in 970, as well as Khartoum (1902) and Cairo (1908)be said to have been accessible to non-Muslim Africans.

18University of Fort Hare, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Rhodes University and Walter Sisulu University. A lot

of work still needs to happen, however, to consolidate especially the historically black universities.


3.1.2 Physical Attributes

The Province of the Eastern Cape is the third largest of the nine provinces in terms of surface area,

comprising 170 600 km2, which represents some 14.0 percent of the country’s total land mass. The

Province is a post-1994 amalgam of what was known as the Eastern Province, the Border and North-

Eastern Cape area, as well as the former homelands of Transkei and Ciskei. The Eastern Cape is

located on the south-eastern seaboard of South Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean in the south-

east, the Free State and the Kingdom of Lesotho in the north, the Western and Northern Cape

provinces in the south-west as well as Kwazulu-Natal in the north-east.

The Eastern Cape Province comprises the six district municipalities of Alfred Nzo, Amathole, Cacadu,

Chris Hani, Joe Gqabi, and OR Tambo. There are also two metropolitan municipalities in the Province

– the Nelson Mandela and Buffalo City Municipal Metros. Between the metros and district

municipalities they account for forty-five (45) local municipalities.

The Eastern Cape is a region endowed with a number of resources that give it a geo-economic

competitive edge, both realised and potential. The following are worth noting for purposes of long

term development planning:

Water stock: The Eastern Cape is a region with high water potential. All three of the water

management areas in the Eastern Cape – Upper Orange, Fish to Tsitsikamma and Mzimvubu to

Keiskamma – show projected positive balances in 202519. This represents a significant advantage for

the Eastern Cape in a world of growing population and growing freshwater scarcity, and in a water-

scarce country such as South Africa. This abundance of water has the potential for unleashing multi-

faceted developments in agriculture, energy, the rural economy and other economic endeavour.

Biodiversity: The province is rich in biodiversity, with eight of nine the South African biomes found in

the province, including twenty-eight distinct vegetation types. It also incorporates five centres of

endemism, or unique ecological habitats. The largest of these, the Albany Centre of Endemism,

extends for almost nine million hectares across the province. Because centres of endemism are

believed to be so unique, their conservation is considered a particularly high priority20, and around

these is also included proposed extension of nature reserves, as illustrated in Map 1 below.

Extensive Coastline: The province is surrounded by a largely unspoiled coastline stretching over 800

kilometres and replete with potential for tourism as well as an under-tapped marine economy in the

form of natural marine resources and a maritime trade that can yield significant returns to the regional

economy. The latter – opportunities in maritime industries and trade, is indeed an area that the

Industrial Development Zones – Coega and East London, among others, seek to exploit.

19According to the National Water Strategy (2004), by 2025 South Africa will have, in the absence of new bulk

infrastructure, an overall negative water balance, with ten of the nineteen water management areas showing a negativebalance. Against these projections, however, in terms of potential, the Mzimvubu Water Management Area sits in firstplace among the 19 nationwide, and Upper Orange sits at third position.

20Eastern Cape State of the Environment Report, 2011


Mineral and energy resources: In recent years there has been a focus on the potential for gas

and petroleum extraction, with offshore opportunities for conventional gas and petroleum opened

up though the Petroleum Agency of South Africa. Targets for exploration onshore include coal-

bed methane in the Molteno Coalfield, and shale gas to the southwest. The province is also well-

endowed with water, wind, and is positioning itself as a major generator of renewable energy.

Agriculture and forestry potential: While currently limited in its contribution to GPD, the province

has large potential for increased agricultural production. Map 1 shows where existing irrigated

agriculture (195 000 Ha), forestry, (479 000 Ha) and game farming (357 000 Ha) is situated. The

map further shows forestry potential (150 000 Ha) and arable land (1 051 000 Ha). Existing

irrigated farming, as well as commercial livestock farming is concentrated in the west of the

province, while agriculture and forestry potential is largely to be found in the eastern portions.

Hence agriculture has been, and continues to be seen as the mainstay of economic and rural

development policy for large parts of the Eastern Cape.


Map 1: Agricultural and natural resource potential

Against this potential, however, and due to a combination of factors past and present, the Eastern

Cape is vulnerable to degradation as it is exposed to inappropriate land-use activities. Urban

expansion, dense rural settlements, inappropriate farming, and the demand to meet the needs of an

increasing population – primarily food production – are all contributing factors leading to the

degradation of land and loss of land productivity in the Eastern Cape. According to the Eastern Cape

Biodiversity Conservation Plan about 15% of the land cover in the Eastern Cape is considered to be

degraded, while an estimated additional 13% of land has been transformed (i.e. not natural), of which

8% is due to agriculture. Built up areas comprise 3% of land cover with only about 4% of land having

been formally conserved. This may have long-term impacts on future development opportunities,

limiting the economic value and potential of the Eastern Cape. Currently, the population density of the

Eastern Cape is approximately 4 people per hectare. This number will increase in the future and it is

critical that long-term land-use planning is co-ordinated to ensure that the carrying capacity of the

Eastern Cape is sufficient to meet the social and economic demands of a growing population.


At the same time, historically unequal land ownership patterns that persist into the present also do not

help the situation of stresses on the land. Patterns of land ownership and the legislation governing

land administration ensure that a near permanent record of the region’s history of inequality is

retained: In the west are freehold white owned farms that still make up the bulk of the province’s

meagre contribution to GDP through agriculture, buffeted by among others an irrigation infrastructure

bequeathed by the colonial and apartheid governments. In the centre is the Border patchwork of

quitrent, white owned farms, marginal black owned freehold, colonial and apartheid expropriations,

and a trickle of restitutions. In the east Transkei customary tenure still continues, while land

administration and planning in the former Ciskei and Transkei is still governed by old order

proclamations and ordinances dating back to 1921, and even clouded and skewed to a significant

degree by predominantly patrilineal patterns of inheritance and leadership. None of these challenges

– socially determined as they are, should be placed beyond the realm of critical scrutiny, discussion

and resolution if the objective is to build a better future and renew even cultural fundaments that

people hold dearly to.

Economic infrastructure: In terms of infrastructure and the built environment, the Eastern Cape is

also inimitably the automobile hub of the country, has two functional harbours and has three medium-

to-large airports in Mthatha, East London and Port Elizabeth, as shown in Map 2. The Province has

two of the country’s four industrial development zones – Coega IDZ and East London IDZ. The Coega

IDZ, the country’s largest, is located in Port Elizabeth, built adjacent to the deep water Port of Ngqura.

The East London Industrial Development Zone is located adjacent to the East London airport and the

Port of East London. The two IDZs in the province have notched important investments and continue

to play an important role in the development of industrial capacity and export competiveness of the

province.

As mentioned above, the province has three large ports – Port Elizabeth, East London and Ngqura.

Port Elizabeth currently provides container, automotive and multi-purpose bulk terminals. The

development of Port of Ngqura has provided an opportunity to relocate bulk operations to the new

port. There are a number of major projects in the Port of Ngqura, such as the continued expansion of

the container terminal, development of liquid bulk and general freight terminals, as well as a new

manganese export terminal and small craft basin. These developments all come with associated rail

infrastructure. The Port of East London, on the other hand, provides the city, the IDZ and immediate

hinterland with multi-purpose, liquid bulk, dry bulk and automotive terminals.

This economic infrastructure, set to benefit its share from government’s infrastructure-build

programme, represents attributes that can be built upon. Plans are also underway to expand the

Mthatha Airport, extend the East London Port and improve road and rail linkages, notably the N2 Wild

Coast Road, the Wild Coast Meander, and rail upgrades between East London, the hinterland and

Port Elizabeth and the mining industry in the Northern Cape whose products will feed into the Coega

and Ngqura initiatives.


Map 2: Economic Infrastructure


3.2 Development Challenges

3.2.1 A conceptual framework

In the introduction to this section we stated our wish to interrogate the particular circumstances

of the Eastern Cape against the backdrop of the key challenges raised in the NDP. Having

considered some important attributes of the province in the previous section (3.1) against which

we can base a plan for the future, we next want to briefly set out how South Africa’s key

challenges as outlined in the NDP, as well as a few others more peculiar to this province, find

expression in the Eastern Cape. We do this by clustering the challenges, and outlining their

implications for the Eastern Cape, around three areas of focus, namely – (i) human

development, which is the principal focus of our development endeavour, (ii) economic

opportunity and (iii) institutional capabilities for governance as well as development facilitation

and management. A balanced weighing of, as well as integrated and systemic action across

these focus areas as in the scheme below, will ultimately determine how human flourishing and

well-being that sits at their intersection, will be impacted:

Human Development

Development of mind, body and spirit for purposeful,conscientious and responsible action – through groundedsocialisation, quality education, training and skills acquisition;knowledge creation and innovation; the arts and creativecultural activity; sports; healthy living and quality health caresystems, and enabling social infrastructure

Institutional Capabilities

A capable state committed to a justdevelopment; capable civil-societyorganisations and institutions; and an ethicalprivate and corporate sector jointlycommitted to, and collaborating around ajust and equitable development

Economic Opportunity &

Rights

Equitable availing of chances formeaningful, dignified work andincome; plus fair distribution ofeconomic infrastructure and materialresources for an inclusive socio-economic development

Humanflourishing and

well-being

A Conceptual Framework on Aspirational Ends(as basis for analyses, vision and plan – departing from promise of justice in Constitution, aligned to NDP)


3.2.2 Summary of Challenges & Issues

At the root of South Africa’s and the province’s developmental struggle, as is even the case

extending to other parts of the Southern Africa region, sits the greater challenge of addressing

an enduring structural legacy of under-development and deprivation inherited from the colonially

and apartheid inspired disfigurement of the landscape of South Africa and the greater region21 –

the dispossession of land and other sources of livelihood, the disruption of families and social

institutions, the engineered undermining of life-chances of the majority of the population, the

disruption of a cultural basis for organic intellection and self-determination and the supplanting

thereof with an alienating exogenous logic, and a systematic decimation of self-worth that self-

reproduces across generations for the majority of citizens.

In the case of the Eastern Cape the manifestation of the consequential material deprivation is so

graphically demonstrated in the following maps below, which spatially show persisting levels of

deep deprivation continuing to be the bane of the majority of citizens who directly lived the

experience of colonialism, apartheid and Bantustan politics, as well as their offspring whose life-

chances were significantly predetermined by the condition of their forebears. The new plan of

the province thus has to proceed from a conscious determination to disrupt and undo the

structural features that perpetrate the dehumanising effects of this legacy, while taking care to

consolidate that which represents good foundations to build upon. At the same time though, the

plan also needs to disrupt anti-developmental tendencies and obstructions that have manifested

post-1994. This includes a conscious revisiting of paradigms that may have inadvertently led to

policy and programmatic choices which carry no real prospects of significantly denting the

structural features impeding progress for the majority of the province’s citizens. Anything less

ambitious will just prolong and deepen the misery, and further undermine prospects for a future

of flourish and stability.

Map 3 and 4 below illustrates the spatial distribution and concentrations of both socio-economic

opportunity as well as social need in the province. First, using Census 2011 data at ward level

an index of socio-economic underdevelopment has been created and mapped in Map 3. The

index provides scores for education, income and unemployment22 on scale of 0-100. A low

score indicates lower levels of deprivation, or alternatively – high levels of development, while a

high score indicates the opposite – high levels of need, or lower levels of socio-economic

development. While almost the entire province registers below-satisfactory levels of socio-

economic development, the map shows how most of the former Bantustan areas are much

21The NDP characterises these area of deprivation as ‘poverty traps’ to be eliminated by 2050 (p233). In maps

showing ‘spatial dislocations at a national scale’ (NDP, p236-237), the denseness of deprived rural settlements inthe Eastern Cape is also graphically illustrated.22

Education is measured by the percentage of people 20 years or older with some secondary education (Grade 9

or less). Income levels are measured by the percentage of people with income of less than R800 per month, initself debatable as reasonable measure of poverty borderline. Unemployment is measured by the percentage ofpeople unemployed, using the official definition. Equal weight is given for the three indicators in the index.


more severely underdeveloped, when compared with the western, central, and urban (metro

centres) parts of the province which on average show higher levels of development23.

Similarly a Basic Services Index has been constructed using Census 2011 data per ward. The

Index provides scores for RDP level access to water and sanitation, as well as use of electricity

for lighting24. High score indicates poor access to basic services and a low score indicates

better access. Map 4 shows stark spatial contrasts in the levels of access. The areas that make

up O R Tambo District and Alfred Nzo District show very low access in the majority of wards.

The basic services index reveals even much greater spatial contrasts than the socio-economic

development index, indicating a need to pay particular importance to accelerating the

development of social infrastructure in these parts of the province.

23These averages mask differences in the seemingly better parts of the provinces, with urban indices distorted by

a higher presence of a middle class as well as industry that is concentrated in these areas, against the reality ofhigh levels of urban poverty also clustered around these sites.

24Access to water is measured by the percentage of the population in the ward with no access to water. No access

is defined as piped (tap) water on community stand, distance higher than 200m from dwelling/institution or noaccess to piped (tap) water. Access to sanitation is measured by the percentage of the population in the ward withno sanitation, defined by pit toilet without ventilation, bucket toilet or no facility. Access to electricity is defined bythe percentage of the population that do not use electricity for lighting. That is lighting is provided by gas, paraffin,candles, solar or there is no lighting. Equal weight is given for the three indicators in the index.


Map 3: Socio-Economic Index


Map 4: Basic Services Index

Significantly therefore, against the spatially patterned features

of the political economy of the province, and the persisting

challenge of underdevelopment of especially its rural regions

where the majority of citizens are to be found, the long term

plan of the Eastern Cape should centre rural development

as a key cornerstone for the sustainable development of the

province.

Against the foregoing, and consistent with the conceptual framework also set out under

3.2.1, below we summarise key challenges facing the Eastern Cape, with further detail

underlying this summary contained in the ECPC’s ‘Diagnostic Overview of the Eastern

Cape’. It will be noted that much as these challenges are expressed distinctly, they are

interrelated, and this becomes much clearer when considered from the point of view of the

three areas of focus against which we look into the meaning of these challenges for the

Eastern Cape:

Eastern Cape must make

rural development the

pivot for sustainable

development...


Focus area 1 – Human Development We understand human development to be

embracive of the purposes, means and processes for education and training; actions relevant toa positive enculturation and socialisation; an affirmation of the self-worth of all citizens as well asthe generation and reproduction of social worth; holistic human health, and the knowledge,ethics and other sensibilities underpinning all this. Deficiencies and inadequacies in these canlead, and have led to an alienation of human consciousness – an alienation that, unlessconsciously addressed, can and often manifests and self-reproduces in behaviour that devaluesself, compromises healthy relations and transgresses societal stability.

NDP Summary ofChallenges onHumanDevelopment

The quality of school education for black people is poor

The public health system cannot meet demand or sustainquality

South Africa remains a divided society

Eastern Cape Issues on Human Development

The education system of the Province is undermining prospects for a flourishing

future for all, especially children of the rural poor and urban working class

― Children from poor backgrounds achieve far below their counterparts in reading, writing

and maths

― A majority of learners do not move evenly through the schooling system: Over the period

2000-2011 about 22% of learners who entered Grade 1 progressed to Grade 12 within the

12-year period, with only 14% eventually successful in the NSC examination. In 2012-

2013, 21 620 grade 1s dropped out before they reached grade 2.

― Schools provide very limited access to success and quality in education; hardly any

extended writing takes place which is central to developing critical and analytical

thinkers.

― Teacher development – both conceptual and subject knowledge as well as teaching

methods – can make a significant difference in the quality of education offered in schools

― There is an uneven regional distribution of resources and infrastructure, schools with high

enrolments are without water supply, sanitation and electricity, most notably in rural

areas;

― Learning resources such as appropriate books are inadequate;

― Class-bound differences are reflected in outcomes, with poor schools underperforming

while the wealthier schools are performing significantly better: in 2012, 78,4 % passed

grade 12 in quintile 5 and 55,8% passed in quintile 1, a pattern that reflects the dual

nature of schooling.


― Mismatches between learners’ home language and the language of learning and teaching

(English) compromises both the quality of education offered and the outcomes thereof.

A sustainable working/labour peace remains elusive – mainly between education

department and teacher organisations, compromising a firm stand by both in sanctioning a

poor professional ethic and unsatisfactory conduct across all levels of the system. This is

compounded by teacher organisations that remain ill-equipped to address the professional

development needs of teachers, and a department that has its own competency challenges.

Early Childhood Development, underpinned by quality learning and development

programmes and good nutrition, requires urgent attention

― Due to malnutrition, 20% of South African children are physically stunted before they reach

grade 1, this same pattern is manifest in the Eastern Cape

The higher education and post-school system is straight-jacketed in imitation of old

western models, and not geared to innovative responses to our developmental challenges

There is a lack of appreciation for indigenous knowledge, non-formally accredited

expertise and alternative models that can be mainstreamed in the cause of human

development – in education, in health, in the sciences of the built environment, and other

sectors (universities are culpable for perpetuating this neglect)

A poor health system and lack of vision25 compounds the difficult life-circumstances

of the poor

― 88% citizens utilise public health services in an Eastern Cape with a higher than average

incidence of ill-defined deaths26 – yet less than 100 of 1300 public health facilities meet

requirements of adequate resourcing and reasonable functionality

― There is weak integration and coordination between the political management,

administration and clinical governance of the health system – with instability and

unsatisfactory performance manifest from the provincial leadership level downwards

― The health system is also under-resourced in terms of an adequate health workforce –

numbers and quality, infrastructure, and support services

― Poor adherence and lack of inclusive implementation of the Primary Health Care (PHC) policy

also compounds the weak quality of health services provided and entrenches a hospicentric

misunderstanding of health and the health care system

25The discussion document on Health from the ECPC’s research makes the telling observation that “the Eastern

Cape Department of Health has not been able to produce a long term vision strategy for health in the province since the failedattempt of the Service Transformation Plan (STP)”

26Five out of the six districts of the province were above the national average in a 2009 analysis, with the OR

Tambo district at more than twice the national average and the Alfred Nzo district at more than three times thenational average.


― The health condition of citizens is also largely influenced by factors outside of the health care

institutional scope (social determinants of health: water, sanitation services etc.), and some

diseases are the consequence of unhealthy lifestyles

― Lack of Health education from the foundational level is a also great impediment to quality,

healthy lifestyles

― There is a general weakness or absence of, as well as lack of promotion of community

participation in the local governance of health facilities and the delivery of health services

Food scarcity and poor nutrition remains a challenge for the majority of poor citizens

― 25% of citizens of the province are food insecure, with 17.3 deemed ‘food inadequate’ and

7.7% being severely food inadequate. Nutritional awareness, sufficiency and balance is an

even bigger challenge than food security, as manifest in incidences of obesity and related

imbalances

Violence and crime continue to erode the social fabric of our society

― The Eastern Cape has the second highest rate of murders and the third highest rate of

culpable homicide and sexual crimes in South Africa;

― Violent crimes against women are high – of 135 sexual offences reported per 100 000 of the

population, 95 were rapes.

The provincial strategy for human settlements should not only eliminate ‘poverty

traps’ over time, but should be in sync with a spatially balanced strategy for socio-

economic transformation

― Owing to historical design, the Eastern Cape has the most dense pattern of ill-configured rural

settlements in South Africa

― The NDP (p241) notes that shifts in settlement patterns as well as population densities of

rural regions such as the Eastern Cape are not being met with commensurate improvements

in the ‘economic base, infrastructure and governance arrangements to manage such changes’

― The NDP (p242) further decries a post-1994 model of service delivery that may have

unwittingly encouraged passivity and an inactive citizenry no longer confident in seeking own

solutions or finding ways to partner with government towards improving neighbourhoods’. In

the case of the Eastern Cape, this has also undermined confidence in identification with an

indigenous aesthetic, crowded out local expertise in design and construction, and encouraged

the proliferation of unimaginative settlements not tailored to differentiated settlement needs.

There is inadequate investment in, and attention paid to the development of sporting

and artistic excellence, especially for youth from poor and rural communities ....


Focus area 2 – Economic Opportunity & Rights By economic opportunity we are

referring to the ability of people to generate meaningful work as well as get gainful employment

(wage-employment and self-employment), plus an equitable ownership of enterprises and assets

that will provide the economic basis for human flourishing. We advocate a particular focus on

systematically building the capabilities for economic participation of presently under-educated

and unskilled young people. We also advocate a particular emphasis in innovative and

redistributive interventions that can transform the fortunes of the rural regions of the province

and re-pattern the economy of the Eastern Cape. By ‘economic rights’27 we are referring to a

basic threshold of material wherewithal for decent livelihoods.

NDP Summary ofChallenges onEconomicOpportunity

Too few people work

Spatial divides hobble inclusive development

Infrastructure is poorly located, inadequate and under-maintained

Corruption levels are high

Eastern Cape Issues on Economic Opportunity & Rights

Dominant economic sectors do not provide formal work for the low, unskilled and

undereducated who are in the majority

― 45.8% or about 1.1 million of the working-age population of the Eastern Cape is unemployed.

About 440 000 of this number are people who have given up on looking for work

Young people (15-34), at 30% of the population, make up 70% of the unemployed and

discouraged work seekers. This is about 738 000 young people without economic

opportunity and not entitled to welfare support by the state

Two thirds of the population live in underdeveloped rural areas with limited access to

services, infrastructure and economic opportunities.

― These areas of the province attract little investment especially by private sector and they lag

in key human development indicators,

27The post-1994 government has made commendable efforts to address this societal objective, most visibly

through the development of infrastructure that extends basic social amenities to all, as well as programmes suchas the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and the Community Works Programme (CWP) in the socialeconomy. Social measures such as grants can also be seen in this light, much as they are derided by some forinducing so-called ‘dependency’, or – an extreme derision that will be raised in this school of thought – ‘indolency’.The idea of economic rights and basic social entitlements is not new – it is an ages old concept that foundexpression even in ancient societies such as in the Kemitic/ Egyptian public works programmes (Obenga, 2004), aswell as in contemporary comparative initiatives such as India’s Right-to-Work programme and similar examplesfrom a number of other countries.


― The potential for agricultural and rural industrial development remains under-exploited

Slow progress in land reform has retarded economic transformation in the province

Economic assets and resources such as arable land, water and an extensive coastal zone

are not effectively utilised for an inclusive economic development and decent employment

The Eastern Cape productive economy is overly dependent on the automotive industry

and needs diversification

The private sector has generally not shown high levels of commitment to the welfare of the

provincial and broader South African economy – investments from the private sector have

not matched levels of reserves it commands

Opportunities in the social economy have not been strategically exploited to leverage

inclusive and sustainable economic development, anchored upon appropriate institutional

formations such as cooperatives

The Eastern Cape has the lowest per capita investment in infrastructural stock

Infrastructure is inadequate, poorly maintained and with spatial contrasts consistent

with patterns of inequitable distribution of opportunity across the province – transport,

energy, ICT, water (even as province holds a positive water balance into long term)


Focus area 3 – Institutional Capabilities Here we refer to the individual and collective

ability, power and willingness to participate in the development process in the province bypeople as agents of their own development, actively involved in shaping their own destiny –civil society as critical champions of development and key arbiters on choices impactingsocietal livelihoods, the state as an enabler and key actor in the development effort, and theprivate sector as a committed partner in development. This representation of key agentsworking in common cause calls for the careful construction of a multi-agency partnership for thedevelopment of the province, with a particular emphasis on social agency and personalresponsibility, as well as the mobilisation, tapping into, and development of skills and talents ofall citizens in the shared project of an equitable, sustainable development of the Eastern Cape.

NDP Summary of

Challenges on Institutional

Capabilities

Public services are uneven and often of poor quality

Corruption levels are high

Eastern Cape Issues on Institutional Capabilities

The civil service of the province remains professionally weak and underperforming

across sectors and levels, characterised by weak administrative capabilities, a poor work

ethic and very weak consequence management

Systems of accountability for both public political representatives and public

officials need to be revisited and consolidated; the underpinning political determinism

in identifying political and administrative leaders needs to be sharpened to deliver

knowledgeable, effective, efficient and conscientious leaders across the spectrum of

political organisation, as well as across levels of public action

Central coordinative mechanisms to ensure integrated transversal actions across

state entities, as well as across levels are weak

There is a weak culture of, and capability for system requirements such as records

management, information systems, project management as well as monitoring and

evaluation systems, resulting in poor implementation of programmes, weak accounting, and

the lack of credible information for planning and impact assessment

Weaknesses in certain policies and legislation governing public administration, and a

general lack of standard operating procedures underpinning processes and conduct

compromise accountability for performance

Corruption continues to trouble the public sector in the province – e.g. only 22% of cases

closed against a 85% feedback rate on the National Anti Corruption Hotline; there are low

levels of investigative capacity in departments


Current approaches to planning and governance do not enable genuine public participation

by, and accountability to a capable and informed citizenry

There is generally an insignificant visibility, participation and commitment to development

and the public good by other institutional agents, especially the private corporate sector

The civil society in the province is fragmented, diverse and has no homogeneous vision

and unity of purpose. Consequently, as a collective social agency it has been peripheral in

the development process.


3.2.3 The abyss if we do nothing

The following vicious cycle and abyss awaits us should the status quo continue holding into the future:

Opportunistic, self-serving demagogues and political entrepreneurs will proliferate in an

environment where there is a weak demand for committed service, rectitude and accountability

from politically-connected agents. This will grow to undermine the currency of an organised,

conscientious politics, worsen the dysfunction of the public service, and spread the tentacles of a

parasitic rentier class that will push down prospects of an inclusive, flourishing economy.

Under-educated youth will continue falling out of the education system and into unemployment

yearly, swelling the numbers of the hopeless and desperate. The economic and social malaise

that generate and contribute to, and are in turn exacerbated by this crisis, will be amplified.

Levels of social strife and related social ills will rise.

The numbers of malnourished and sick citizens will exponentially rise to levels that will implode a

health system that is already not coping well at the moment.

The hopelessly inadequate current structure of the economy, predicated as it is on an outdated

construct of urban commercial centres whose thriving was deliberately framed to be dependent

on the under-development of the rural ‘periphery’, will continue to self-reproduce, but with an

ever diminishing capacity to sustain even the urban component of the economy that it was

purportedly established to serve. Against this, a continuing failure to seriously address rural

development and alter the nature of relations between so-called ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ in a dual

economy, will exacerbate rural-to-urban migration patterns which are no longer being managed

through colonially inspired instruments of control that are no longer in force. All this will pile

even more socio-economic stresses on urban centres that are already struggling to cope, while

continuing to erode the faith of rural populations in the promise of a substantive transformation of

rural livelihoods.

The increased migration outflows from the province will lead to an ever decreasing allocation of

equitable-share funding to the province from the national fiscus.

Against the inevitable reduction of equitable share allocation, and the lack of innovative

strategies for labour absorption that can expand an income-earning population which is key to

spurring on demand and a matching growth in economic activity, the economy of the Eastern

Cape may actually be pushed into contraction.

The public sector, which is the major employer in the province and is almost solely dependent on

national allocations, may be forced to downsize, squeezing citizens down the ladder of class, and

growing the voice of the discontented who will further disrupt social and economic peace.

The institutional weaknesses of the state, civil society and private sector may deepen the crisis

of cohesion and compromise prospects for collective pursuit of a new journey to shared

development. This may result in an even diminished ability to take advantage of opportunities for

development – both latent and overt, such as opportunities presented in new infrastructure


investments, as well as diminished ability to mobilise national and other players for strategic

support and resourcing of the new development plan for the province.

The over-reliance of some organisations of civil society on state funding may lead to their

collapse as the public purse shrinks, or is parasitically raided to levels where it becomes less

and less capable of sustaining basic needs of society, let alone cover the cost of public service,

and critical voices in the public discourse to deepen democracy and champion development may

disappear.

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | Pathways to Action Page| 34

4. PATHWAYS TO ACTIONThis section of the document sets out some starting propositions for consideration in tackling the key

challenges summarised under 3.2.2, and towards staving off the grim scenario painted in 3.2.3 above.

Against these challenges, against related pointers to action in the NDP, as well as against strategies

and programmes of government – at all levels – and other actors in the public life of the Eastern Cape,

we move to propose for consideration, and weigh the implications of a number of pathways to action

for the Eastern Cape. The detailed plan of the province should flow from a careful consideration of

these propositions and our collective capability to factor them into the plans of institutional and social

partners upon whom a successful implementation of the plan will rest.

4.1 Principles, Assumptions and Process

With the broad aim of the ECPC process being to invite citizens of the Eastern Cape to commit to a

collective process of renewal and rebuilding by (i) taking stock of present reality, strategies, plans,

actions and mindsets, and then co-plotting as well as committing to a better future of shared action

and responsibility, and (ii) advocating a revival and re-centering of honest and realistic social

compacting as well as conscientious, accountable action, the following principles and assumptions

will underpin the generation, elaboration and consolidation of options against which choices and

pathways for action will be framed –

Social and economic justice: First, there should be a constant invoking and application of the

principle of just weight with regards to the ends of social and economic justice pursued, a

development predicated on an inclusive and redistributive imperative to address inequalities and

underlying structural features, as well as an appropriation and application of relevant models of

development. Inattention to addressing underlying causes of injustice, inclusive of structural

features that prop up power imbalances in the economic and political realms, could well

compromise the efficacy of other measures proposed through this and other interventions.

Policy and strategic alignment: Second, is the importance of aligning roadmaps with the NDP,

the country’s key national outcomes and other national policies and programmes such as the

NGP and so forth, as well as provincial and local initiatives and programmes already afoot and in

need of consolidation. Together with this will be the importance of referencing our ideas against

more global practical examples and progressive narratives on human development.

Against such imperative for alignment, however, should also be a sober appreciation of what is

possible within limits of material and other considerations, and therefore a realistic setting of

goals and targets that can be delivered against by all who commit to the project of the

sustainable development of the province into the long term. Here is one example of what we

mean by this:

Among objectives held out by the NDP on improving education, training and innovation, the

following are mandated:

all children to have at least 2 years of pre-school education

90 percent of learners in grades 3, 6 and 9 achieving at least 50% in annual national

assessments (ANA) for literacy, maths and science


between 80 – 90 percent of learners should complete 12 years of schooling and/or

vocational education, with at least 80 successfully passing the exit exams

all schools to meet minimum standards by 2016, following the eradication of infrastructure

backlogs...

If the assumption is that the first three objectives highlighted above should happen by the year

2030, and 2014 is assumed as the first year of implementation of NDP actions, then the following

linearised28 trajectory of development towards objective could be assumed for the third target,

where the current reality is that just less than 15% of learners in the Eastern Cape progress

evenly over their 12 years of schooling until exit point. If the target is now set at a minimum of

80% for 2030, the implication is that we see improvements along the following graph over the

17years to 2030:

28 This of course is too simplistic – the reality is that there are a number of preparatory actions such as teacher

preparation, teaching and learning materials development, etc., which suggest much lower rates of change/growth in theearlier years of the change process than is assumed in a linear progression.

24%

28%

31%

35%

38%

42%

45%

49%

52%

56%

59%

63%

66%

70%

73%

77%

80%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

EC Completion Targets over NDP horizon

Completion Targets (assuming even rate of change)

Yrs


The above means that we should see current completion rates doubled over the next three years

for the Eastern Cape. But this is unrealistic, just as are the other targets recounted above – we

already have a pipeline of ‘academically injured’ learners with whom we cannot achieve this

target, and there needs to be an accelerated change in efficiencies in our teaching and learning –

meaning also accelerating improvements in the capabilities of teachers, together with fast and

vast improvements in learning infrastructure and resources. It is therefore important that

partners in the development project of the Eastern Cape realistically ponder the province’s

capability in human, material and organisational resources to achieve the above targets within

the time-frame set out by the NDP, this not to unnecessarily promote any shirking of

responsibility to do all within our reasonable power to work towards the set objectives.

Balance continuity against necessary ruptures: Third, and related to the second point above

about aligning the provincial plan with policies and programmes already afoot, is the importance

of a creative balance between striving for efficiencies in the delivery and management of existing

public programmes, while seeking to establish necessary ruptures with the present logic and

trajectory of development where warranted, i.e. where current approaches and underpinning

premises as well as paradigms are not helpful in confronting crises that burden our society,

economy, politics and institutions.

Evidence-based decision: Fourth, is the importance of grounding positions adopted, and

proposed solutions against reasonable evidence – evidence of challenges and propositions that

have been properly investigated and interrogated via robust deliberative processes

Participatory, citizen-centred development: Fifth, is the idea that the long term development

planning process should promote a meaningful participation of diverse stakeholders, voices and

interests critical to shaping a reasonable consensus whose ends can then be pursued through a

shared multi-agency approach, with the state being a critical actor in this arrangement. While,the role of capable state in development is key, there are also strong arguments (the NDP itself;

Sen, 2013; Boyte, 2013) supporting the idea of an empowered and capable civil society as

important to sustainable development and an accountable citizen-centred politics that can deliver

social justice in the long term.

Accountability: Sixth, is that the framing of propositions for the future should be based on

actionable possibilities, measurable actions and clear arrangements for accountability

Insularity against irrational political whim: Seventh, is that there should be a principled

understanding that the provincial development plan should be buffeted from perturbations that

come with changes in political and administrative leadership in the province – changes

suggested to plan should thus focus on a consolidation of the plan, against its set of underlying

principles as well as vision and outcomes agreed.


Complementary and convergent planning logic:

Against the foregoing, however, we also are keenly mindful of

the pressures occasioning an expectation that government

departments and other entities of the state should start

programming the designs of the NDP into their medium-term

strategies and plans for implementation from the fiscal year

2014/2015. In other words, as we work to tailor the NDP to

provincial specificities, and endeavour to mobilise to commitment

the multi-agent institutional base necessary for successful

implementation, the outcome of this process should converge

with, and consolidate medium term planning actions already

triggered within provincial departments and other state entities.

In light of this reality then, we propose that the inclusive process

of discussing and refining the propositions set out further on in

this document be developed along the following planning and

prioritisation frame that is sensitive to government planning

cycles even as it also enjoins the commitment of other non-state

institutional partners in the province’s long term development:

Human Development

Economic …

Institutional…

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

MTSF 2014-2018MTSF 2019-2023

MTSF 2024-2028MTSF 2029-2032

Cu

mu

lati

veB

un

dle

so

fStr

ate

gic

Act

ion

so

ver

MTS

MTSF 2014-2018 MTSF 2019-2023 MTSF 2024-2028 MTSF 2029-2032

Human Development 12 18 25 30

Economic Opportunity 8 15 20 25

Institutional Capabilities 8 16 22 32

Strategic development over medium-term phases

ECPC’s process of tailoring

of NDP to provincial

specificities – challenges,

potential and priorities –

must converge with, and

assist state entities’

planning processes, even as

it mobilises, plans for, and

commits multi-agent energy

to development action...


Illustrated above is the idea of crafting, implementing and monitoring the plan against a set of distinct,

time-bound – medium-term and annualised, carefully sequenced strategic actions per focus area,

against agreed outcomes and objectives. The outcomes, goals and objectives per focus area are

meant to ensure a consistency and systematic development over time, and M&E mechanisms as well

as an intelligent coordinating system should ensure that necessary revisions to consolidate the plan

and implementation process are effected as warranted.

4.2 Vision, Outcomes, Goals & Strategic Actions

In this section of the document we set out what are suggested as key priorities for the development of

the Eastern Cape into the long term, against the NDP’s core propositions. We also propose a starting

set of outcomes, goals and strategic actions for discussion and consolidation across the three areas of

focus for development. Behind the outcomes, goals and strategic actions set out below is built a detail

of implementation specifics that will also be presented and discussed with stakeholders towards a

consolidation of the provincial plan. Also indicated below is an integrated approach that is encouraged

in how we treat each of the focus areas: when we consider a vision, outcomes and actions for human

development, we need to also sketch out related strategies and actions needed across the

complementary domains of economic opportunity and institutional capabilities; similarly, we apply the

same logic to the latter two domains.

4.2.1 Preconditions to successful development planning and implementation

To reiterate, the following are among the more important preconditions to a successful development of

a provincial plan that can garner the commitment of the critical majority of social and economic agents

and institutions important to its successful implementation:

Citizen-centred focus: First, should be a conscious realisation by all that the primary purpose

of development action is to address the well-being of citizens. Against this therefore, should be

a serious commitment to developing the capability of citizens through education and training, as

well as other means. This is in order to ensure that the primary responsibility for development

action is led and carried by citizens in their individual and collective capacity. Over and above

this commitment, however, there should also be a more serious commitment to the cultivation of

a culture of service and respect for citizens by capable development practitioners and public

servants. It is only such disposition on the part of the latter that can encourage trust, healthier

relations between state, development practitioners and citizens, and therefore a better chance

for the realisation of development outcomes.

Capable, integrated state action: Second, should be a commitment to integrated planning

and action on agreed priorities, especially by government departments that are notorious for a

silo orientation – provincial as well as national departments participating in or supporting

development action in the province. Such integration needs to be clear in plans, the allocation

and utilisation of resources, the assignment of responsibility and accountability-tracking

measures. At the national level, there also needs to be a new commitment to confront the drift

of uneven development that has continued post-1994 – among other actions, there needs to be

a willingness to revisit policies and the allocation of resources to enable under-developed

regions such as the Eastern Cape to catch up.


Against the foregoing, should be a commitment to improving the capabilities and performance of

departments and state institutions, as well as officials key to the implementation of the plan.

Such improvements should see positive shifts in technical competencies, inclusive of a

preference for meritoriously capable mandarins, the promoting of a commitment to conscientious

service, as well as renewed commitment and measures to confront corruption in the civil service

and the collusion thereto by a corrupt private sector. It is only after the establishment of the

functional capability briefly alluded to here that we can perhaps more seriously entreat

aspirations to being a developmental state. Anything less than seriously working to first attain

such capacity threshold is tantamount to diversionary rhetoric.

Multi-agent compact for development: Fourth, should be a commitment to embracing the

utility of, building the institutional capabilities and related instrumentalities of, as well as

positioning a developmental agency extending beyond the confines of government alone – the

idea of an organised citizen-centric multi-agency for development action.

4.2.2 Key Priorities for Province

The NDP highlights education and job creation as key building blocks for the long term development of

South Africa. We also are in agreement with the NDP’s position, but go further to establish the

following set of priorities as pivotal to consider for the development of the Eastern Cape: (i) an

improvement of education, (ii) job creation, (iii) a more serious drive to transform and develop our rural

regions as a key to boosting the economic performance of the province as a whole, and (iv) a

commitment to improving the functionality and efficiency of the public system towards enabling the key

priorities and other desired outcomes. We briefly motivate these in turn below, and then further on

provide a summary on outcomes, goals and strategic actions to be considered around these:

(i) Improvement of education: Singling out education as being of particular high priority stems

from a well-established acknowledgement of its multiple benefits to society – in contributing to

general well-being, inclusive of holistic, healthy livelihoods and relationships; in advancing an

educated and informed citizenry capable of independent initiative; in boosting capabilities for

innovation across all organs of society – public and private; in promoting capable and productive

participation in the economy by citizens as professionals, workers and independent economic

agents; in enhancing the capabilities of state and other public institutions, inclusive of non-state

community development organisations; in deepening democratic sensibilities in society, and in

advancing a demand for, and an orientation towards equality in human and material terms.

(ii) Redistributive Economic Growth, Economic Independence & Job Creation: We reaffirm the

NDP’s high prioritisation of jobs to address unemployment and poverty. Of importance to

ensuring a sustainability of gains made in tackling these two challenges, however, should also be

a commitment to pushing for a redistributive participation and more inclusive ownership

patterns in the economy. This also is about decisively addressing an important third related

socio-economic challenge – inequality. In the case of an under-developed and relatively

uncrowded regional economy such as the Eastern Cape, with its natural and especially

agricultural potential, the opportunities to introduce more players into the economy through a

number of state-incentivised, or even state-led initiatives is higher than in a more crowded

economy. And so too are multiplier potentials. The job creation imperative behoves the province


to therefore adopt more creative strategies to address not only the crisis of urban poverty and

unemployment, but, perhaps even more importantly – the transformation and development of the

rural economy as a critical stepping stone to a thriving, integrated and inclusive economy of the

Eastern Cape.

(iii) Rural development: A concerted, integrated and well-resourced focus on rural development

offers the greatest hope of realising real material progress for the province into the long term.

This requires inter alia –

― decisive steps towards addressing land reform and tenure that is in keeping with the

commitment to redress and democratisation by the new state29;

― a greater urgency to develop agriculture and rural industrialisation, as well as establish

sustainable linkages across spatialised nodes of the economy – villages, small towns,

secondary towns, cities and metros30. Such linkages should also aggressively address the

under-developing effects of an inherited dual economy;

― a clear commitment to prioritising and empowering womenfolk as the predominant motive

force for rural development – they have after all been the main pillar that has held rural

communities together as these were turned into depressed labour reserves over the epochs

of colonialism and apartheid that saw the greatest disruption of communities, the scattering

of men through the migrant labour system, and other related systematic attacks on the social

cohesion of particularly black citizens.

The social empowerment project to go with the proposed reconstruction should thus also

include a commitment to systematic and sustained conversations and other actions

dedicated to a critical cultural renewal of our society. Such conversations should not shy

away for instance from, among others, a critical re-evaluation of ideas held around gender, a

redefinition and reconstruction of relationships oriented towards promoting equality and

social cohesion, and a dedicated rebuilding of

institutions that sustain communities.

(iv) Improving functionality of state andempowering civil society: The state looms large

in the public life of the Eastern Cape and is

expected to be a key driver of development. In

order for this to happen effectively, however, the

state requires a certain level of institutional

capability to lead such development, and due

attention should be paid to building such

capability. This will include paying attention to

improving meritorious selection processes in

identifying leaders and civil servants, as well as

improved controls to curb malfeasance and corruption.

29This task may largely fall in the domain of the national Department of Rural Development & Land Reform,

but the province needs to adopt a more proactive stance, including facilitating the necessary consensus amongkey regional role-players – communities, traditional leadership and private landholders where warranted.30

A careful construction of these linkages should extend to strategic economic relations across provinces.

A capable functional state,

working in sync across sectors

and levels, and collaborating with

extra-governmental institutional

partners, are key to a successful

implementation of the provincial

2030 Plan...


At the same time, however, it needs to be acknowledged that, even if the advocated

improvements were to happen, the state may not be tooled to lead certain initiatives and

processes critical to the public development project. Relevant institutional partners – quasi-

public and even private, need to be mobilised, empowered and positioned to play their role in

the development process, and serious attention should particularly be paid to quasi-public

development agents organised around, embedded in, and accountable to communities.

4.2.3 Summary of development actions for prioritisation

Extending the above, and against the framework of the three focal areas of human development,

economic opportunity and institutional capabilities (colour-coded per graphic of conceptual framework introduced

in 3.1.2), it is further proposed that the long term plan of the province embrace the outcomes, goals and

strategic actions selected for prioritisation in the table presented below. While the presentation in the

table is organised along distinct outcomes under the three focal areas, it is important to read these in

an integrated fashion, given their inter-dependencies.

In the annex accompanying this document, the following presentation is expanded to include otherrelevant goals and actions. The detailed plan of the province to build on this ‘Strategic Perspective &

Propositions’ document will further develop the strategic actions propositioned and discussed with

stakeholders into time-bound specific actions, with set milestones over a short, medium and long-term

frames.


DevelopmentOutcomes

Summary of Priority Goals and Strategic Actions

(expanded and elaborated further in annex to this document)

Key Agents and Contributors

Quality Education &

Training:

Need for consensus onpriorities for EC Vision2030, aligned with NDPand complementary toSchooling 2025 vision aswell as HumanResources DevelopmentStrategy 2010-2030

Co-operative governance of education at rationalised educationdistricts as key points of delivery, management, support andaccountability – District Education Boards or equivalent proposed inorder to enhance local decisions and accountability, with devolution ofsubstantive authority, plus strong representation from capable civilsociety

Strong, representative district offices as maindrivers

Rationalised provincial office for resourceallocation, support and M&E

Mainstreamed ECD with trained staff, and state-guaranteed,quality assured nutritional security for young children, to ensuresolid foundation for development

ECD centres articulating with schools

Support from Department of Education, SocialDevelopment and others

Curriculum innovation and improvement, as well as systematicdevelopment of quality teachers and learning resources to –

― improve learning outcomes through grades 1 - 12

― mainstream mother tongue in the primary phase31

Universities to drive re-curriculation, teacherdevelopment and professional credentialing

Teacher-driven professional development/ supportprogramme (universities to collaborate)

Department of Education curriculum professionals

Society-wide campaign and systematic enculturation of readingand writing to encourage and support learners at school and inhomes, while also enhancing other community life-endeavours tobenefit from a reading, informed citizenry

Public adult learning centres (PALCs), ABET centresand Community Colleges

Knowledge, skills and organisation for community-basedproduction for food and nutrition security, plus income-generation through supplying School Nutrition Programme andother social programmes (Health, Social Development, etc.)

FETs, community colleges and cooperativesagencies lead skills and organisation development

Provincial agency/unit to manage production andlogistics in support of community producers

31Currently, only a few universities have shown serious interest in addressing mother-tongue teaching and learning in their teacher education programmes. While

the debate on language-of-instruction rages, and protagonists shoot off prejudices, sometimes dressed up in ignorant eloquence, recent research into the effects ofmother-tongue teaching in the foundation phase across South African schools has provided empirical confirmation of better learning outcomes that trump themainstreaming of English from grade 1. (see ‘Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach, Taylor &Coetzee, 2013’)


DevelopmentOutcomes




Schools and other educational centres of excellence (CoEs),inclusive of Historical Schools and other relevant models ofcollaboration between government and civil society initiative 32

Local leaders of schools and other centres, withlocally accountable governance structures

Supporting organisations and departments

32Having carefully weighed the debate and the evidence, the ECPC advocates citizen-centred, publicly accountable centres of excellence than the contentious

American inspired model of ‘charter’ schools that some are now strongly advocating for adoption by the South African government (see The Missing Sector – ContractSchools: International experience and South African prospects, Centre for Development & Enterprise 2013). The charter schools approach has come in for heavycriticism for its privatisation-of-education effects, even by former proponents in the USA who had initially championed it enthusiastically. The evidence on itssuccesses is patchy, while its threat to harm a public education system such as South Africa’s is feared to be even potentially graver than the grief it has occasioned inthe American public education system. Against this, the Eastern Cape presents an additional different scale of challenge – an under-developed, infrastructurallyunder-resourced schooling sector located in economically deprived rural regions that hold little attraction for the entrepreneurial class behind the private schoolingmovement. Little wonder therefore that, as private schooling continues to grow in urban regions, there is no reach of such in the rurally deprived regions of theEastern Cape. Its establishment would thus likely depend solely on the state’s budget, with doubtable investment from a private sector currently loathe to invest ineven traditional commercial enterprise in the rural regions of the province.


DevelopmentOutcomes




Equitable andinclusive spatial andeconomicdevelopment:

Important references inaddition to the NDPinclude the NationalGrowth Path (NGP),Industrial Policy ActionPlan (IPAP) and strategydocuments on ruraldevelopment

Comprehensive rural socio-economic development, anchored on -

― investment in new and adaptive R&D on technologies,knowledge and organisation to underpin sustainableproductivity of rural regions

― a careful determination of competitive advantage acrossareas, and actions to build economic activity around these

― massive investments in infrastructure in rural regions toboost socio-economic development: The building andmaintenance of infrastructure through the public budget, inclusive ofthe expansion of targeted small and secondary towns into seriousrural development hubs, should be meant to also drive theestablishment of self-sustaining social enterprise in ruralcommunities, over and above the current predominant practice ofcreating ‘once-off’, ‘disappearing’ jobs

― AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION and trade, built on a balancingof, and reciprocal relations across scale (small-scale to large-scale commercial agriculture) and agents (private and public), aswell as co-enabling value-chains – primary, agro-processing,auxiliary industry, logistics and re-stimulated markets ,inclusive of public sector markets

― enabling institutional platforms – for capacity-building, R&D,local organisation development and support, linkagesfacilitation (including market networks), etc.

Strengthened Eastern Cape Rural DevelopmentAgency (ECRDA) as lead provincial coordinatingagent – delinked from single department in order to playreal integrative role across state and collaboratinginstitutions. ECRDA should have much a more significantbudget allocation direct from National Treasury; plusstrong budgeted links with collaborating research andlearning institutions plus local development agencies

Department of Public Works as integrative anchorfor publicly-funded infrastructural developmentsacross sectors and departments. The departmentshould also drive an expanded social economy of localagents through related reforms in public procurement –coordinative instruments to be strengthened, withdedicated sub-units collaborating with localised agents(also applies to urban development)

Local development support institutions and localmulti-agency collaborative for capacity-building,etc adaptation of Local Action Group concept

Established business, as co-enabling investors andbeneficiaries

Public learning and research institutions fortraining, R&D and development facilitation

Improved spatial integration of urban economy, plus necessaryinfrastructure, against re-imagined and improved settlements –

towards expansion of industrial production and related economic activity– trade, logistics and services – in metros, urban & peri-urban centres

Lead collaborators for infrastructure to catalyseprivate investment = Departments of Public Works,Human Settlements and Economic Development

Private sector = main drivers and investors

Relevant national departments

Inter-provincial (especially KZN and Western Cape), and public-private partnerships – around projects identified for strategiccollaboration (infrastructure, new industries and products)


DevelopmentOutcomes




Tourism development, across urban & targeted rural areas, toembrace heritage and sports tourism

Multi-agent, citizen-centred partnershipfor development:

Provincial policy framework, the promotion of a consciousnessfor, as well as the operationalisation of joint stewardship of amulti-agency partnership for people-centred development,manifest in –

― supportive frameworks for community-driven, politically andbureaucratically unencumbered initiatives

― chapters and implementing arms of the multi-agency for citizen-centred partnership for development across sectors and spheres,underpinned by relevant compacts, formal agreements andresources

― re-developed methodologies and instruments to foster citizen-centred ethos and orientation in the planning, implementation,monitoring and review of plans across spheres and entities

― systematised processes for continuous critical reflection frompractice (policy learning) on appropriateness of developmentparadigms and trajectories pursued by country and province

Provincial leadership of ruling party and keypolitical organisations as leading force to championdesirable policy and organisational re-orientations,as well as mobilise civic agency

National political leaders key to supportingdesirable policy changes

Representative social groupings and constituentbodies – faith-based organisations, traditionalinstitutions, etc, as important partners to mobilisecivic agency and co-shoulder responsibility fordevelopment

Local government

Local development-facilitation and supportstructures and organisations

Citizens participating in own-development andgovernance endeavours Capabilities at provincial government level – for improved

performance and management of development processes at alllevels and across institutional collaborators

Capabilities for strong local government – accompanied by therequisite delegation of functions and powers for accelerateddevelopment, inclusive of strategic rationalisations fromprovincial offices towards re-locating capacity closer to points ofdelivery


DevelopmentOutcomes




Capabilities at local level for community-based planning,implementation and monitoring – among citizens, local politicians,public sector functionaries and citizen-driven entities, inclusive oftraditional leadership structure

Quality Health: Improved integrated Health Care System, articulated acrosslevels – primary, secondary and tertiary, with –

― investments in infrastructure (complimented by other socialinfrastructure investments) to particularly improve district levelhealth care facilities in underserved rural areas and townships

― improved health system leadership and administrative efficiency,with focused capacity-strengthening at district and sub-district levels

― investments in education and training (at WSU and partnerinstitutions) to expand the numbers and improve the quality ofhealth care professionals across all levels of the system – fromspecialists at the top, down to community health care workers

― learning, information and related programmes for systematiccommunity empowerment, underpinned by relevant healthknowledge and the provision of appropriate resources forcommunities to be effective partners in promoting positive healthcare environments

Provincial Department of Health as lead agent

National Department of Health as lead collaborator

Department of Higher Education as keycollaborator for education, training and capacity-building

Walter Sisulu University to lead higher educationand post-school programmes

Schools and local institutions

Community-based health development agents,inclusive of Community Health Workers

Citizens

Improved consciousness for health, manifest in –

― health-affecting outcomes and strategies embedded in allgovernment policies and programmes – an ubiquitous ‘healthfootprint’ in education, in economic development, in settlements andinfrastructure planning, in sports and recreation

― a general consciousness and habit for healthy lifestyles


DevelopmentOutcomes




Provincial Health Civic Education Campaign –

― embedded in school curricula and extra-curricular activities

― through post-school health education for out-of-school youth andcitizens, as well as other popular community education, informationand development programmes

Also critical to consider in underpinning a number of development priorities as listed above, is the idea of appropriate quality, integrated

human settlements as one important development outcome. This matter will be addressed with participants in the ECPC’s planning

process, as part of the writing up of the actual development plan of the province. So too will other contributory outcomes such as sports,

the arts and other creative endeavours.

The presentation in the annex to this document, ‘ECPC Vision 2030 Outcomes, Goals and Strategic Actions’, provides further detail on

the above summary of critical actions against outcomes, goals and objectives developed along the three focus areas.

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | Conclusion Page| 48

5. CONCLUSION

This document has been developed out of a number of inputs from various working groups of the

Eastern Cape Planning Commission (ECPC). Against the National Development Plan (NDP) as

principal guide on key points of concern and strategy, the working groups of the ECPC have

conducted research and analyses, engaged many stakeholders to solicit concerns and opinions, and

put together detailed reports on not only an analysis of the condition of the province and key

development challenges facing us, but also on propositions that have been put forward as a basis for

developing the detailed long term development plan of the Eastern Cape. We hope that this

document does reasonable justice in reflecting inputs made by the public and stakeholders that the

ECPC has engaged with, even as we still put it out with the intention of inviting a critical interrogation

of how these inputs have been captured. At the same time, the document is put out with a view to

inviting further input towards a consolidation of the propositions it puts forth.

A couple of critical challenges loom large for the Eastern Cape, as summarised in this document.

They mainly boil down to firstly the historical – in the form of an underdeveloped, largely rural province

lagging in all manner of indicators of human and economic development. Secondly, however, the

challenges of the province also significantly owe themselves to a post-1994 political and bureaucratic

culture struggling to establish a cogent, pro-development mindset. This is manifest in, among others,

the challenged leadership capabilities of government from provincial to local government level, in

friction between logical political allies, in sometimes uncommitted professional behaviour, but also in

acts of plain malfeasance and corruption. A common refrain across many stakeholders engaged by

the ECPC is a lament on the debilitation to civic agency and even bureaucratic efficiency that has

been wrought by a government-centric and rent-seeking politics that tends to dominate public life in

the province.

Key propositions put forward towards a better and prosperous future for the province, departing from a

principled commitment to social and economic justice, have therefore centred around calls for a

renewed focus by government, citizens and all stakeholders on turning around the fortunes and

livelihood of especially rural citizens of the Eastern Cape, on improving education and its promise for a

whole lot of other life-endeavours, on getting governance right, and on establishing a truly cooperative

agency for development that conjoins government, civil society and other partners.

The next stage of the ECPC planning process will be to now take the propositions presented in this

document and elaborate them into a detailed long term Provincial Vision 2030 Plan that complements

the designs of the NDP.

ECPC Strategic Perspective Towards Vision 2030 | References Page| 49

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Documents

An ECPC Discussion Document