The 10-point plan and the politics of coordination

WHEN President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the 10-Point Economic Action Plan at the ANC’s gathering, the nation sighed — not in defiance but in weary recognition. We have become a people fluent in reform but starved of renewal.

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The plan promised decisive action to reset growth, fix energy and logistics, revitalise industry and restore confidence. Its focus on stabilising the grid, opening rail transport and ports to private participation, investing in infrastructure, supporting small enterprises, and professionalising the civil service speaks to real priorities.

However, the scene felt familiar. Another plan, another promise, another moment of public renewal. It treated dysfunction through procedure rather than transformation, reaffirming the ability of the system to reform but not to change.

This is the paradox of the political machinery. The state does not resist reform; it absorbs it. It speaks the language of renewal, adopts the posture of accountability and performs the cleansing rituals, all while preserving the relationships that keep it intact. What appears to be a rupture is often an act of repair, not of institutions, but of legitimacy. The system reforms not to transform, but to survive.

The political economy gives language to this condition. In systems where authority depends on networks of loyalty and access, reform becomes a mechanism of self-preservation. Governments that cannot deliver performance learn to deliver theatre, perfecting the art of appearing responsive through plans, task teams, and commissions that manage outrage without changing the logic of power.

The South African experience reflects this rhythm. The Zondo and Seriti commissions, along with countless policy frameworks - from the RDP to the NDP and now the 10-point plan - have exposed a consistent pattern of procedural accountability without structural change.