Department of Social Development: Population and Development

The Chief Directorate: Population and Development

Context of establishment

South Africa’s White Paper on Population Policy (1998) complements the Reconstruction and Development Programme and contributes to the establishment of a society that provides a high equitable quality of life for all South Africans in which population trends are commensurate with sustainable socio-economic and environmental development. The impetus for the reorientation of government Population Policy of 1998 arose from the change in government in 1994. This was the same year that the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) took place in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1994. The Reconstruction and Development Programme formed the basis for the development of the policy and the ICPD offered a useful new international perspective on population and development issues. The goal of the policy is to bring about changes in the determinants of the country’s population trends, so that these trends are consistent with the achievement of sustainable human development.

This is to be achieved through:

The systematic integration of population factors into all policies, plans , programmes and strategies at all levels and within sectors and institutions of government;

Developing and implementing a coordinated, multi-sectoral, interdisciplinary and integrated approach in designing and executing programmes and interventions that impact on major national population concerns;

Making available reliable and up to date information, monitoring and evaluation at all levels and in all sectors.

Strategic Focus Areas

In order to implement the population policy major strategies were identified as the enablers for achieving the government’s objective of sustainable human development.

Institutional arrangements and role of population units

In order for the policy to be implemented effectively institutional framework for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the policy were put in place. The Population Units (Chief Directorate Population and Development) at national and provincial level were restructured to ensure implementation of the policy at all levels of government. Population functions of the unit were identified which are supported in part A of Schedule 4 of the 1996 Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.

Because of the multi-faceted nature of population trends and the factors that impact on them, the implementation of the population policy was made the responsibility of the entire government, the private sector and civil society.

The Population and Development Units researches and advises Government on population policy and planning and development issues; and builds capacity to integrate population issues into development strategies. The objective of the programme is to research, analyze and interpret population and development trends in order to inform policy-making and planning; monitor, evaluate and facilitate the implementation of the population policy through intergovernmental programmes and develop capacity to integrate population issues into development.

Population units in the national and provincial spheres of government facilitate and support implementation of the population policy. The units are located in the Department of Social Development. In the local government sphere, mechanisms like Integrated Development Planning are in line with the objective and strategies of the population policy.