The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure says it will accelerate the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to meet the set target of millions of work opportunities.
This was said by Deputy Minister Sihle Zikalala during a Portfolio Committee meeting on Wednesday.
The implementation of the EPWP Phase V will focus on key service delivery interventions such as the restoration of the dignity of the indigent through vocational and Further Education and Training skills development and certification.
The department said the programme would be intensified to create job opportunities for the youth, women and rural poor communities, who bear the brunt of low economic growth and unemployment.
The department launched Phase V of the EPWP in April this year. Phase V covers the period from 2024 to 2029 and aims to create five million job opportunities. The department is enhancing the EPWP to make an impact and ensure effective exit plan.
President Cyril Ramaphosa officiated over the celebration of 20 years of the programme in the Eastern Cape in April.
At the time, the Presidency said the EPWP was a nationwide government programme to create work opportunities and income support to poor and unemployed people through the delivery of public and community assets and services, thereby contributing towards development.
READ | President Ramaphosa sets sights on five million EPWP jobs in next five years
The improvement of data collection, verification, and recording of employment opportunities per EPWP sector will be important, said the Deputy Minister.
“Hence some of the sectors of focus in phase V will be waste management with recycling being the focal point, road paving, potholes patching and maintenance of public facilities," Zikalala said.
He emphasised the need to ensure collaboration between all spheres of government and the private sector.
“The private sector can add value through their social corporate investment to augment a programme and projects like waste removal into recycling, which could in turn ensure environmental preservation,” he said.
In his closing remarks, Zikalala indicated that EPWP is needed in the country as a key job creation driver as it plays an important role in poverty alleviation, skills development, clearing of service backlog and the reduction of high unemployment rates. – SAnews.gov.za
