DPWI calls for reform of EPWP as unemployment rate remains high
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson says ongoing protest action by hundreds of former Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, shows that the programme needs to be reformed to provide a sustainable pathway to permanent employment.
“The EPWP programme was always designed to be a short-term programme to give recipients work experience and training in order for them to find permanent employment. However, due to the stubbornly high unemployment rate in South Africa, many have grown dependent on the programme, having been employed as an EPWP worker for many years.
“As mentioned during the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure’s budget speech last week, it is therefore imperative that the EPWP programme be reimagined to become skills outcomes-based which leads to South Africans climbing up the opportunity ladder, rather than being stuck in the EPWP for years on end,” he emphasised in a July 25 media statement.
Macpherson said he looked forward to working with all stakeholders in the coming months to lead to better outcomes for recipients nationwide.
“It is possible to build a better, more prosperous South Africa but only if all stakeholders work together towards a common vision. As a department, we are committed to working with local government to design better public programmes, cut red tape for infrastructure investment and turn the country into a construction site. Let’s build South Africa,” he urged.
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