Jacob Zuma has a tough job. It is election year and, under a cloud of controversy, it is up to him to carry the ANC’s message of jobs, housing and discipline. In his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement on President Zuma’s administration last year, Pravin Gordhan put his full weight behind Trevor Manuel’s National Development Plan, indicating that implementation had begun and that municipal (and other) development plans would need to be aligned to the NDP.

The 18 Strategic Integrated Plans (SIP) of the NDP that local governments will need to look at to deliver on the NDP include SIP 6 (Integrated municipal infrastructure project) SIP 7(Integrated urban space and public transport programme) and SIP 18 (water and sanitation infrastructure). The outstanding question is: how exactly do they help? Sustainable infrastructure can only exist in a sustainable culture, and that places one need ahead of all others: jobs. While the projects that flow from the SIPs will surely generate short-term employment opportunities, there is consensus nowadays that only the development of the private sector – notably SMMEs – create sustainable jobs. Both Manuel and Gordhan acknowledge this.

Interfering at local government level

It is incredibly difficult to understand, then, the thinking behind the introduction of the Infrastructure Development Bill. The draft bill was subject public hearings in Parliament last week and was subject to heavy criticism. The South African Local Government Association (SALGA), Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and the Western Cape provincial government – between them – noted that the bill added yet another layer of red-tape to businesses wanting to work with municipalities and confuses the roles of the different tiers of government. The bill seemingly interferes with current legislation and seeks to give legal weight to the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission, which is chaired by President Jacob Zuma. This alone is an exquisitely sensitive point, possibly interfering with the authority of municipalities by enabling the commission to decide on tenders.

Creating obstacles to job creation

BUSA member, Lorraine Lotter is quoted as saying the bill effectively adds yet another layer bureaucratic red-tape to approvals. Red-tape has been cited repeatedly as possibly the biggest obstacle to the survival of new SMMEs and by extension, sustainable jobs. The intention of this bill is hard to fathom. It goes against Trevor Manuel’s National Development Plan, it goes against Pravin Gordhan’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement and it seeks to extend the power of the president in a way that that is not in line with how South Africa is constituted.