Pretoria: The Cabinet Lekgotla underway in Pretoria will look at South Africa’s economic outlook and progress made to implement the programmes outlined by President Jacob Zuma in the State of the Nation Address in February.

“The agenda mainly for us is to look at the economic outlook of the country and internationally to see what further measures we need to take to ensure that we sustain economic growth and maintain the current employment and probably increase employment in the country,” said Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Collins Chabane.

Cabinet is holding its extended meeting in Pretoria and is expected to wrap its business up on Thursday. The meeting includes the national executive, which comprises the President, his deputy, the ministers, deputy ministers as well as the premiers of the nine provinces.

Chabane said the gathering will also look at progress made on government priorities in education, health, job creation, fighting crime and corruption and rural development and land reform since 2009.

“We need to look where we are and also to look in detail the progress we made following the State of the Nation Address. Lastly, we will look extensively on the preparations for the implementation of the National Development Plan and our medium term policy statement,” added Chabane.

The NDP offers a long-term perspective for the country and aims to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030. According to the plan, South Africa can realise these goals by drawing on the energies of its people, growing an inclusive economy, building capabilities, enhancing the capacity of the state, and promoting leadership and partnerships throughout society.