Candid advice from Manuel to Parliament

TALKING about a developmental state made no sense if it was incapable of delivering to its citizens – you first had to build a “capable state” staffed by competent people who were accountable to citizens, planning minister Trevor Manuel said yesterday.

He said there was no “fundamental contradiction” in the National Planning Commission, which he heads, spelling out the need for a capable state, and the developmental state the ANC government wants to create.

Manuel, who was briefing MPS on the National Development Plan yesterday, also stressed Parliament’s role in achieving a more capable state by toughening up its oversight of the government.

“Bring me a wooden spoon, and let me stir some trouble,” Manuel said. “All of us, as ministers, come with our departments and our budgets, and we’ll complain about the new initiatives that are not funded – and nobody in Parliament ever says, ‘what are you prepared to take off your budget?’

“Because you can’t just continue adding – no country can afford that. (But) when Parliament sleeps, the party continues.

“So vuka (wake up). We need Parliament’s vigilance.”

Parliamentary business was largely set aside yesterday to allow as many MPS as possible to attend the day-long briefing by Manuel and the commission’s Kuben Naidoo.

Manuel spoke about skills mismatches and unevenness in the public service and the battle “not quite won” to stop public servants and their relatives from doing business with the state and other ills affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of delivery.

His message was reinforced by National Assembly speaker Max Sisulu, who stressed the need to “move away from party political interests to ask what is... in the interests of our people and country”.