Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson has heard how the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) programme is open to abuse by politicians and officials.
This as the Minister visited uMngeni in KwaZulu-Natal on Monday as part of his countrywide EPWP listening tour to improve and reform the programme.
"As Public Works & Infrastructure Minister, I have always maintained that the EPWP programme is an important tool to alleviate poverty in many communities while giving people essential working opportunities.
“However, the stories of abuse I have now heard both in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are too serious to ignore. This is why we are embarking on this countrywide EPWP listening tour as we work to reform and improve the programme. There are countless stories shared with us in uMngeni of people being excluded simply because they didn't know the right ward councillor and officials, or that jobs were 'sold' in exchange for money or loyalty.
“There are also stories of abuse where power dynamics were used to exploit women. These stories are simply unacceptable, and these practices need to come to an end,” the Minister said.
The EPWP is a medium-to long-term government-funded programme that promotes the use of labour-intensive methods to create work opportunities for poor and unemployed South Africans.
In addition to gaining skills and earning an income, the work opportunities also allow participants to gain valuable work experience that make them employable.
Macpherson said he will use the experiences shared during the EPWP listening tour to help reform the programme to ensure it contributes to building South Africa.
The stories from EPWP recipients build on what the Minister heard at the launch of the listening tour in the Eastern Cape last month.
Minister Macpherson said he will use the experiences of EPWP recipients shared in uMngeni, and those from the Eastern Cape last month, to inform the rethinking of the programme to ensure it becomes a vehicle for skills transfer and a stepping stone towards permanent employment.
READ | DPWI to accelerate EPWP work opportunities
In the weeks and months ahead, the Minister will take the EPWP listening tour to all nine provinces as he listens to communities.
"The time has come for us to fix what is broken. We simply cannot continue with programmes over and over again when communities keep complaining about possible abuses.
“It is imperative that we are humble enough to listen to communities' concerns and work to implement reforms so the programme can help us build a better South Africa. Our communities and EPWP recipients deserve better," Macpherson said. – SAnews.gov.za
