By Albert Pule
Pretoria - The provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng walked away with the most trophies at the Kamoso Awards held to recognise public sector bodies that have excelled in the implementation of Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) in the previous year.
The two provinces bagged eight and six awards respectively at the glittering awards.
The Kamoso Awards, which took place on Wednesday night in Irene, Pretoria, were established in 2007 to also recognise government departments for their contribution in creating work opportunities for unemployed South Africans.
Addressing the packed hall where the awards were held, Minister of Public Works Thulas Nxesi said all the nominees had played a positive role in creating jobs.
“The public bodies and projects that will be acknowledged at these awards have greatly contributed to the creation of a million work opportunities across all sectors of the EPWP and spheres of government.”
Minister Nxesi told the ceremony that non-profit organisations in the public works sector had performed beyond expectations.
“A big thank you to the non-profit organisations, collectively you exceeded the two percent target for participation of people with disabilities.”
The non-profit organisations reached three percent in the current financial year.
Senior Managers Lulu Mdletshe from the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and Xolani Xulu from the KwaZulu-Natal Public Works Department said they were not surprised about their big win at the ceremony.
“What made us successful was that we planned together as a province when it came to the coordination of implementing our EPWP projects,” said Mdletshe.
According to Mdletshe, all the departments and bodies that will implement EPWP had to submit their plans of how they were going to implement the programme.
“Before we get the target from national, we already know what we are going to do and that ensures everybody ready to play their role.”
EPWP Programme Manager for Gauteng, Beauty Kutumane, said the secret to their successful night at the awards was working closely with all the implementing departments and constant monitoring of projects.
“The main ingredient was monitoring what the departments were doing and we had close contact with them throughout the period of the projects.”
He added that the support from the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development played a key role in them bagging six awards on the night.
In the Infrastructure Category, KwaZulu-Natal won Best Construction Project, Best Province, Best Metropolitan Municipality and Best District Municipality, among others.
Gauteng won Best Department of Public Works Regional Office implementing National Youth Service, Best Social Project, and Best Social Sector Implementing Department.
Other winners included Mpumalanga, which clinched six awards, followed by Limpopo and Eastern Cape with two awards each. – SAnews.gov.za
