The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) in partnership with National Planning Commission (NPC) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal School of Development Studies will in November 2022, host a three-day conference to reflect on state capacity and performance in the first ten years of the National Development Plan (NDP).

Chapter 13 of the NDP outlines the country’s developmental state ambitions as being driven by the need to address historical socio-economic injustices and to reduce the ongoing triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality (National Planning Commission 2012).

In order for the conference to have a comprehensive review, reflection and account of the first 10 years on the NDP’s quest for to build and sustain a capable, ethical and developmental state, interested academics, policymakers, doctoral students and researchers are invited to submit abstracts on the theme of the conference, that of “Reflections on State Capacity and Government Performance through the first ten-years of the National Development Plan”, focusing on the following sub-themes:

State capacity;

The impact of covid-19 on government performance;

Governance: lessons from State Capture Commission, accountability and state-owned enterprises;

Ethics and integrity;

Subnational government;

Industrialisation and infrastructure development.

The abstracts consisting of the title, authors’ names, and affiliations, contact details, a short abstract and keywords, should be submitted by the 10 September 2022 and will be subjected to a double peer review process and outcomes will be notified by 15 September 2022, for full papers to be submitted by 01 November 2022.

Source: Government of South Africa