Plan is available

DEAR SIR — Roger Southall’s letter (Nobody reading national plan, April 8) is a reminder of how much more work needs to be done to make the plan available to all South Africans.

We need to make sure that it is written in language that is accessible and distributed through channels that reach all audiences. It should be made more exciting for young people, especially school children whose future it is about. This is a challenge the National Planning Commission is aware of.

The commission has printed thousands of copies of the full 484-page plan and the executive summary.

The distribution of the plan is ongoing, and all Prof Southall had to do is ask for a copy to be sent to him. He most certainly did not have to bring the arms deal into this. As a matter of fact, I would like to offer to send copies of the plan to all 30 members of the New South African Review team if Prof Southall will send me their addresses.

Contrary to the charge that the commission has not done its job properly, the full plan is available in English and in braille, and the executive summary is available in 10 of the 11 official languages with the translation into the 11th language due to be completed soon. A popular version of the plan is available in 11 languages in pamphlet format.