President Jacob Zuma says the country’s provinces and municipalities must do much more to implement the National Development Plan (NDP).

“We … are pleased with the speed of implementation of the NDP by provinces and municipalities but feel that more still needs to be done and at a greater speed,” the President said.

This emerged at the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC) meeting, which was convened at the Union Buildings on Friday.

The NDP is the country’s blueprint for ending poverty and reducing inequality by 2030.

The PCC is the President’s coordinating structure where he meets Premiers and the South African Local Government Association representing Mayors.

The meeting focused on improving the performance of local government and the Back to Basics campaign.

The PCC received and discussed a progress report on the implementation of the Back to Basics programme, which aims to improve local government and service delivery.

The council also considered a report on progress regarding the work undertaken by the Municipal Demarcation Board of South Africa.

The meeting also received an update on the preparations for the 2016 Local Government Elections; an overview on the implementation of NDP by provinces and local government, as well as an update on the Presidential Hotline and the impact it has had in addressing challenges raised by citizens throughout the country.

“We have had very fruitful discussions as different levels of government meeting in this council to discuss various programmes aimed at improving service delivery at the local and most immediate level of governance for our people,” said Zuma.

The meeting was told that as of the end of January, all but one province managed to resolve more than 80% of the complaints about service delivery it had received.

The only exception, the Eastern Cape, recorded a 73% resolution rate since the establishment of the hotline in 2009.

The hotline allows South Africans to complain about service delivery, make enquiries and offer suggestions and compliments.