Makgoba: ANC not prioritising NDP

DEPUTY chairperson of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Professor Malegapuru Makgoba has raised eyebrows with his comments that the government is splashing money on expensive cars instead of prioritising the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP).

He said the focus on the NDP had been distracted by debate on radical economic transformation and “whether the monopoly capital was white or colourless”.

Makgoba, who is also the health ombudsman, presided over the investigation into the more than 100 psychiatric patients who died in Gauteng last year.

He made the controversial remarks on the NDP while addressing an annual memorial lecture in honour of black businessman Don Mkhwanazi in Durban. He was hosted by the Black Management Forum, which is known to be supportive of President Jacob Zuma.

In the NPC, Makgoba is the deputy to Jeff Radebe, Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency. The department is in charge of overseeing the implementation of the NDP. Yesterday, Radebe’s office declined to respond to Makgoba’s assertions, saying it had not received an official complaint from the commission. Zuma’s spokesperson, Dr Bongani Ngqulunga, referred the matter to Radebe.

Makgoba said the government had in 2012 adopted the NDP, and five years later “we are yet to see the national budget prioritised to underpin the recommendation of this National Transformation Plan”.