Job opportunities to be created

Keiskamashoek – President Jacob Zuma today announced that more than six million job opportunities will be created over the next five years through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

President Zuma launched the third phase of the EPWP in Keiskamashoek, just outside King William’s Town in the Eastern Cape.

He said great emphasis will be placed on the participants of the EPWP to ensure that they start their own cooperatives.

Speaking at the launch, President Zuma said when the programme was introduced in 2004, government wanted to address the high level of unemployment in the context of an economy with jobless growth.

“The EPWP’s aim was to ensure that a significant number of the unemployed are drawn into productive work and more importantly, that these workers should gain skills while they work,” he said.

He encouraged cooperation between government and communities.

“We began to work more closely with the non-state sector, developing a partnership with civil society by working closely with Non-Profit Organisations as well as the Community Work Programme.

“Government will continue to assist those people who are committed in the programme and would want to see them improving their areas,” he said.

President Zuma said government is determined to end poverty and unemployment.

He said all spheres of government are encouraged to create more work opportunities through labour-intensive programmes.

The objective of the EPWP Phase 3 is to provide work opportunities and income support to poor and unemployed people through labour intensive.

The new phase will kick start the creation of six million work opportunities that President Zuma announced during the State of the Nation Address in June 2014.

“We are determined to reach as many people as we can to reach the six million target,” said President Zuma.

Of the six million work opportunities to be created during phase 3, the bulk of the work will be for women, then youth and people with disabilities.

EPWP Phase 3 will create work opportunities in four different sectors, namely infrastructure, environment and culture, social, and the non-state sector.

Infrastructure has been earmarked to be the biggest employment creator with more than two million work opportunities out of the total six million targeted by 2018/19.

In the first three financial years starting 2014/15, the EPWP plans to create 3.5 million work opportunities and the rest during the last two financial years.

The EPWP projects employ workers on a temporary or on-going basis either by government, contractors or other non-governmental organisations under the Ministerial Conditions of Employment for the EPWP or learnership employment conditions.

President Zuma said in Phase 3, government will place increasing emphasis on not just reaching work opportunity targets, but also pay greater attention to the quality of the services that are provided and the new assets created, schools, clinics and multi-purpose centres built with EPWP participants.

Since its inception, the EPWP has created a total of 5.5 million work opportunities.

Significantly the EPWP will promote increased community participation to facilitate more visibility and ownership in poor communities. It will also increase the scope of infrastructure maintenance and quality implementation and developmental impact.

Various Ministers, MECs and Mayors signed the pledge to commit their departments to work with the Department of Public Works’ EPWP in creating job opportunities. – SAnews.gov.za