Sassa old age grant recipients can no longer participate in CWP jobs initiative

The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) has announced its decision to end the participation of workers who receive government’s old age grants in the Community Work Programme (CWP).

The recently announced decision comes after a thorough verification exercise conducted in collaboration with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa).

“Cognisant that the programme is funded from the same fiscus as the old age grants disbursed by the Sassa, it is considered prudent to avert double dipping, by participants especially those who are above the age of 60 years. This will allow the department to redirect resources to those who rely solely on this programme for their livelihood,” said the department.

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Empowering economically vulnerable communities

According to the department, the last working day for the affected participants was on Friday, 16 August.

It stated that it had engaged with the affected participants and issued formal letters notifying them of the decision.

“Moreover, exiting beneficiaries of old age grants will also enable the programme to maximise imparting tech-based and artisanal skills, particularly among the unemployed women and youth”.

The department actively works to eradicate poverty and empower economically vulnerable communities through targeted community development initiatives.

‘CWP is a temporary employment safety net’

It described the CWP as one of the transformative strategies responding to social security issues through active economic participation.

“It is important to note that CWP is a temporary employment safety net, premised on the principle of graduating participants from poverty to self-sustenance through skilling and community development,” it said.

The department designed the programme to facilitate the intake and create sustainable socioeconomic exit paths for temporary participants.

The DCoG adopted a smart partnership model to aid in sustainable exit strategies for participants to enhance the programme’s impact.

“Additionally, the reimagined CWP aims to recruit youth as part of addressing unemployment and skills shortage amongst this cohort,” said the department.

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