ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 4IR Fourth Industrial Revolution ASGISA Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa AU African Union CNG Compressed natural gas CO2 Carbon dioxide CSIR Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CSO Civil society organization DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries DBE Department of Basic Education DEA Department of Environmental Affairs DPME Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation DST Department of Science and Technology DTI Department of Trade and Industry DVA Domestic Violence Act GBV Gender-based violence GDP Gross domestic product GEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution GNP New Growth Path HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus ICT Information and Communication Technology IPAP Industrial Policy Action Plan IPP Independent Power Producer IRP Integrated Resource Plan MOI Means of implementation MTSF Medium Term Strategic Framework NDC Nationally determined contribution NDP National Development Plan NGO Non-governmental organization NPC National Planning Commission NSSD National Strategy for Sustainable Development and Action Plan 1 NWRS National Water Resources Strategy PEP Post-exposure prophylaxis PhD Postgraduate doctoral degree PSET Post-School Education and Training RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme REIPPPP Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme SADC Southern African Development Community SAEON South African Environmental Observation Network SANEDI South African National Energy Development Institute SANBI South African National Biodiversity Institute SAHRC South African Human Rights Commission SAPS South African Police Service SDG Sustainable Development Goal SFWS Strategic Framework on Water Services SME Small- and medium-sized enterprise SOA Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act SoE State-owned enterprise Stats SA Statistics South Africa STEM science, technology, engineering and mathematics STI sexually transmitted infections (STIs) TB Tuberculosis TFM Technology Facilitation Mechanism TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training UNDP United Nations Development Programme VNR Voluntary National Review WTO World Trade Organization 2 Contents OPENING STATEMENT .................................................................................................................. 5 Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 8 PART I: CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES TO DEVELOPMENT ............................................................. 15 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 15 2. Reviewing the 2030 Agenda Together (Methodology and Process for Preparation of the Review) .................................................................................................................................. 17 3. Policy and Enabling Environment (Localizing the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development) .............................................................................................................................. 21 3.1 Institutional mechanisms and creating ownership of the SDGs .................... 21 3.2 Incorporating the SDGs into the national framework for economic development 25 3.3 Integration of the three dimensions .............................................................. 27 3.4 Leaving no one behind ................................................................................. 28 3.5 Structural issues .......................................................................................... 29 PART II: PROGRESS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SDGs ............................................................ 33 4. COUNTRY PROGRESS .................................................................................................... 33 4.1 Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere ........................................... 33 4.2 Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture ............................................................................................ 37 4.3 Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all and at all ages 41 4.4 Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all .................................................................................... 45 4.5 Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls ............ 52 4.6 Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all ...................................................................................................... 59 4.7 Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all 64 4.8 Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all .............................................. 70 4.9 Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation ..................................................................... 75 4.10 Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries ............................. 82 4.11 Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable ............................................................................................................. 85 4.12 Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns ............ 88 4.13 Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts ...... 91 3 4.14 Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development .................................................................. 93 4.15 Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss ............................................................. 96 4.16 Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels ........................................................................... 100 PART III: THE WAY FORWARD AND CONCLUSION ...................................................................... 109 5. THE WAY FORWARD ............................................................................................................ 109 5.1 Implementation .............................................................................................................. 109 Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development .............................................................. 109 5.2 the policy framework ..................................................................................................... 112 6. Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 116 References ................................................................................................................................... 121 4 OPENING STATEMENT “We can in fact change the world and make of it a better place.” Nelson Mandela The adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015 signalled the universal commitment of the world’s leaders together to confront challenges that must be successfully overcome if humankind is to survive on this planet. From our own experience as South Africans, we fully appreciate the significance of a common cause that unites diverse people to successfully defeat even the otherwise most intimidating of human challenges and adversity. For it was with similar solidarity and support from the international community that South Africa was freed from the yoke of apartheid in 1994. Apartheid was an atrocious, anti- human and anti-development political system that the world, through the United Nations declared a crime against humanity, and whose scars still linger in the socio-economic fabric of now democratic South Africa. According to the 25 years review of South Africa, the 27th April 1994 marked a departure from South Africa’s tainted and divided history, following 300 years of colonial rule, 84 years of the racist Union of South Africa and 46 years of statutory apartheid, underpinned by patriarchy. That date was preceded by multiparty negotiations and marked the end of an era of the oppression. South Africa’s first Voluntary National Review (VNR) is testimony to the national commitment to the full and integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The National Development Plan (NDP): Vision 2030 – “Our future, make it work” was adopted in 2012 as South Africa`s development loadstar and roadmap. It predates the 2015 adoption of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 – “The Africa We Want”. The NDP has a 74 per cent convergence with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and prioritizes job creation, the elimination of poverty, the reduction of inequality, as well as growing an inclusive economy by 2030. Recognising the interconnectedness of these complementary aspirations and developmental agendas, South Africa has recently established a national coordinating mechanism for national