The mid-year Cabinet lekgotla, which took place from 26 to 28 July 2011, emphasised the urgent need to address service delivery blockages frustrating delivery of water, sanitation, electricity, roads and other basic services. It also emphasised job creation and the urgent need to accelerate the provision of infrastructure in rural and urban areas.

Two high-level management structures established

Cabinet resolved to establish two high-level management structures in the Office of the Presidency: (1) the Infrastructure Commission, which will deal with infrastructure development and be chaired by the President, and (2) a Job Creation Commission, to be chaired by the Deputy President.

Fast-track job creation interventions

A 12-point plan on job creation was adopted. The plan focuses on 12 urgent and effective interventions which will run concurrently with all other job creation programmes. The interventions include the following:

• Short-term employment schemes such as the expansion of the Community Works Programme.
• Large projects, to be identified and monitored by the Infrastructure Commission, which will systematically improve the capacity of state agencies to deliver infrastructure and help connect the work of all spheres of government.
• A small high level team which will focus on changes and regulations to unblock private-sector projects with substantial employment potential.
• Interventions to improve competitiveness by strengthening the Competition Act and to expand production sectors such as communication, transport, electricity, construction and food.
• Enterprise development and the promotion and support of small businesses.
• Rural development will be prioritised through interventions such as scaling up existing rural programmes aimed at expanding agricultural production by small-scale farmers, extending core infrastructure to rural areas, increasing jobs and revitalising rural towns. Targets will be set for investment in rural infrastructure in areas such as water, roads, fencing and energy.
• Greening the economy will be promoted through power Purchase Agreements with clear commitments to local procurement of technologies and increased support for achieving a target of one million solar water heaters by 2014.
• Ministers will table recommendations to reduce steel prices, and there will be a report on the work of the state-owned mining company with regards to realising greater beneficiation.
• Government departments must commit 1% of their budgets to develop skills and artisanship training should be expanded across the state.
• Local procurement by the state will be increased and corruption in the tender processes will be addressed.
• Regional trade will be maximised through strengthened regional integration and maximisation of regional economic opportunities.

Service delivery priorities

Cabinet agreed to prioritise service delivery backlogs and focus on transforming apartheid spatial development patterns in common priority areas where backlogs are the greatest. This includes 21 rural districts in six provinces such as uMkhanyakude and OR Tambo. These projects will address water, sanitation, electricity, waste management and access to roads, as well as education, health, policing and housing.

The infrastructure cluster service delivery task team will develop a set of integrated project plans for each district by the end of 2011.

Informal settlements in urban areas will also receive priority attention. Cabinet agreed to an Informal Settlement Upgrading Plan for 45 large metro areas, large towns and cities. Projects will include security of tenure, water, sanitation, public transport, area lighting, electrification and waste management. In addition, services will include social services and amenities such as public open spaces and recreational facilities.

Advocacy commentary on the Cabinet lekgotla

These initiatives are most welcome, given their focus on addressing patterns of inequity in the provision of services and the resultant quality of life of marginalised people in South Africa.

There is, however, a need for strong advocacy from the SAHRC and other state institutions supporting constitutional democracy, the ministries responsible for children, women and people with disabilities, civil society, donors and international organisations like UNICEF, to engage with the processes emerging out of the Lekgotla to ensure that, within the broader marginalised communities, the rights and needs of especially vulnerable groups such as women, children (particularly very young children), and people with disabilities are acknowledged and expressly addressed within all emerging plans, programmes and budgets.

In the words of the joint Statement on Equity on the Realisation of Child Rights in South Africa, the allocation of resources to accelerate the realisation of all rights for all children should be prioritised within the ambit of a “First Call for Children”. All government funded programmes and services should be responsive to ensure that all children experience the full realisation of their rights. This includes especially those children who are marginalised and least likely to have their rights fulfilled. Service delivery policies and programmes should articulate how marginalised children will be reached in such a manner as to be enforceable in all provinces; these policies and programmes must create enforceable obligations to allocate sufficient and appropriate financial, human and other resources. Access to quality early childhood development programmes should be given priority in all areas but especially to those young children who are most vulnerable.

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