National evaluation plan, 2020-2025, South Africa

South Africa has produced 8 National Evaluation Plans since the inception of the National Evaluation System in 2011.

The 2019 NEP covers 30 evaluations planned for the following five financial years (2020-2025), and for the first time includes Municipalities and State-Owned Enterprises as well as national and provincial departments and ministries. The plan sets out detailed plans for the upcoming financial year and less detail on evaluations planned for the following four financial years.

The plan includes different types of evaluations – diagnostic evaluations; design evaluations; implementation evaluations; impact evaluations; cost-benefit evaluations; and evaluation synthesis.

Selection of evaluations is aligned to the seven identified priorities of government as well as key strategic frameworks and plans such as the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and the 2030 National Development Plan (NDP). It also includes coverage across different levels of government, and different types of evaluation.

The evaluations in the plan are undertaken through a mixed approach involving a combination of internal and external evaluation.