Pretoria - Efforts were made to ensure that South Africans, including the youth, were consulted about the National Development Plan, says President Jacob Zuma.
Responding to written questions in Parliament, the President said that when the National Planning Commission (NPC) submitted the draft National Development Plan in November 2011, he requested the commission to consult with all South Africans on the proposals contained in the plan.
The plan, handed to him in the joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces in September, was an outcome of the consultation.
"The commission visited all provinces in the country and had dialogue sessions with government, business, organised labour and civil society. Specifically to reach the youth, the commission hosted a 72-hour online discussion, known as the NPC Jam. Just over 10 000 young people participated," he said.
In addition, three NPC videos explaining the plan were produced and posted on YouTube to provide viewers with a summary of the diagnostic overview and the plan. There have been over 30 000 hits on the YouTube video, said Zuma.
In a further attempt to reach a dedicated youth audience, a partnership was entered into with Mxit where two live chats were hosted providing an opportunity for users to engage with the draft plan, the President said.
"The plan calls on all South Africans to get involved in implementing it because it is a plan for all sectors. We fully support partnerships in particular where they promote the faster delivery of infrastructure projects and shares risk equally between the partners. Therefore, where appropriate, public-private partnerships will be used," he added.
One of the key objectives of the National Development Plan is to create 11 million more jobs and reduce unemployment to 6% by 2030, he noted.
Zuma added that skills development has been a major priority of government and that the NDP makes a number of recommendations to accelerate skills development -many of these are already being pursued by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
