Growth remains stubbornly low, unemployment is unacceptably high, and inequality is deeply entrenched. The uncomfortable truth is that macroeconomic stability, while necessary, is not sufficient. Without a fundamental shift in how development planning is conceived and executed, SA risks locking itself into a cycle of low growth and low expectations.
South Africa’s economic debate in recent years has been dominated by a single, understandable concern: stability. After years of fiscal slippage, rising debt, energy insecurity and weak growth, restoring macroeconomic credibility became the overriding priority. Inflation has moderated, fiscal consolidation has resumed, and the language of discipline has returned to the centre of policy discourse.
This progress matters. Stability is a public good, and without it development is impossible. But for millions of South Africans, the promise of stability has yet to translate into better jobs, rising incomes or reliable public services.
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SA’s development challenge in 2026 is therefore not whether stability has been restored, but whether it is being converted into sustainable and inclusive growth. SA’s challenge is not a lack of plans or policies. SA has some of the most comprehensive policy frameworks in the developing world, including the National Development Plan, sector master plans, and medium-term strategies.
Internationally, SA has committed itself to both the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The problem lies elsewhere: in the gap between policy ambition and implementation, between fiscal decisions and developmental outcomes, and between national commitments and lived reality. At the heart of this challenge is how development planning is understood.
Too often, planning is treated as a technocratic exercise – producing documents, targets and reports – rather than as an execution architecture that aligns priorities, resources and accountability. As a result, well articulated strategies are routinely underfunded, fragmented across institutions, or delayed in implementation. This disconnect is particularly evident in SA’s engagement with global and continental frameworks.
The SDGs and Agenda 2063 are frequently approached as reporting obligations rather than as strategic tools to shape domestic policy choices, investment decisions and institutional behaviour. While the country has demonstrated a strong commitment to reporting, international and continental engagements, the SDGs and Agenda 2063 are still largely viewed as external reporting obligations rather than as internal decision-making tools. This is a missed opportunity.
Both frameworks were designed to sharpen national planning, not sit alongside it. Agenda 2063, in particular, speaks directly to Africa’s structural transformation challenge: industrialisation, regional integration, infrastructure development and inclusive growth. Its First and Second Ten-Year Implementation plans emphasise productive capacity, value addition, employment creation and developmental state capability – precisely the areas where SA’s growth model continues to falter. Properly used, they provide an integrated framework that links economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability – precisely the balance SA continues to struggle to achieve.
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