Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Jeff Radebe, has released governments Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) — a comprehensive plan for implementing the National Development Plan (NDP).

Cabinet approved the 2014-2019 MTSF, which will serve as the first five-year building block towards the 2030 vision in the NDP, last month.

Informing budget submissions

The MTSF priorities will inform the budget submissions that national departments make to the government’s budgeting process, as encapsulated in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, which details a 3-year rolling expenditure and revenue plan for national and provincial departments.

Monitoring progress

The MTSF is intended to enable Cabinet to monitor progress on the implementation of the NDP. The MTSF is structured around 14 priority outcomes which cover the focus areas identified in the NDP, including creating jobs, developing the skills and infrastructure required by the economy, rural development, sustainable human settlements, effective and efficient local government and public service, and the environment.

Ensuring government-wide implementation

By law, all national and provincial departments and municipalities have to produce five-year strategic and annual performance plans and report against these plans.

The MTSF is the mechanism through which all five-year strategic plans and annual plans of the three spheres of government are being aligned to the NDP and made to pull in the same direction. The aim of the MTSF is to ensure policy coherence, alignment and coordination across government plans as well as alignment with budgeting processes.

Read more about the MTSF.