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TimesLIVE reports that a looming jobs bloodbath in the eThekwini Expanded Public Works Employment Programme (EPWP) due to a reduction of R42m in the incentive grant from the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has drawn attention to the need for reform.
The MEC for public works and infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal says the department will look into creating a sustainable pathway to permanent employment through skills transfer and certification for EPWP beneficiaries. The EPWP aims to reduce unemployment and provide short-term income relief for the previously disadvantaged and unemployed. However beneficiaries are “stuck in the cycle of EPWP and never move forward; that's the other challenge we need to address”, MEC Martin Meyer pointed kout. Instead of poverty reprieve for a few months, Meyer believes an outcomes-based programme for sustainability for beneficiary livelihoods beyond their contracts is long overdue. “There should be some form of training. If you are employed at a building site we should be training you to be a bricklayer and give you a certificate so when you leave you have something that can help you get a job with better pay. [This way] we can help people pull themselves out of poverty,” he explained. The programme has come under the spotlight in eThekwini municipality. The workers whose employment contracts are going to be terminated disrupted service delivery across eThekwini last week in protest. The municipality said while the developments were beyond its control, efforts were underway to explore solutions to fully resuscitate the EPWP, including engaging the National Treasury.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zimasa Matiwane at TimesLIVE
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