EPWP to bring 475 000 jobs to Limpopo over the next 5 years
This was according to the MEC for Treasury, Seaparo Sekoati, who spoke at the launch of phase four of the provincial EPWP, held at the Makhado showground on Friday.
LIMPOPO – Our aim is to create more than 475 000 jobs through its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), over the next five years,
This was according to the MEC for Treasury, Seaparo Sekoati, who spoke at the launch of phase four of the provincial EPWP, held at the Makhado showground on Friday.
Sekoati said the biggest challenge remains finding innovative ways of incorporating opportunities in the programme for people living with disabilities.
“Through this programme, we want workers to gain skills while they are employed and increase their capacity to continue working elsewhere once they leave the programme. It is a comprehensive intergovernmental, people-centred programme developed to fulfil the overwhelming trust and confidence the masses of our people have placed in their government, that we should work together to create a better life for all,” Sekoati said.
He reiterated the central focus of the EPWP: “We want to see more young people of this region participating in the programme. We also want to see the women of Makhado and those of Vhembe participating. The EPWP remains one of the most viable vehicles used by government to address unemployment. This programme plays a critical role in the skilling of and providing for our people with on-the-job-experience.”
The EPWP creates jobs in four sectors: infrastructure, non-state, environment and culture, and social sectors. This is done by increasing the labour intensity of government-funded infrastructure projects; creating work opportunities through the Non-Profit Organisation’s programmes and community work programmes; creating work opportunities in public environment and culture programmes; and creating work opportunities in public social programmes.
“As part of implementation in these sectors, government will put more emphasis on the rehabilitation and maintenance of aging road infrastructure, especially those that connect the major economic towns of the province. Experience has shown that the EPWP can be very effective if well managed and implemented.”.
By making phase four a success, Sekoati said they would be realising some of the objectives set out in the National Development Plan. “These objectives are about providing jobs and income support to the poor and unemployed people through the labour-intensive delivery of public and community assets and services, thereby contributing to our nation’s development. The success of the EPWP also restores the dignity of our people, in particular mothers and fathers who are then enabled to provide the basic necessities for their families. So as their spending also contributes in stimulating local economies,” Sekoati added.
“The implementation of this programme will mostly be felt by our local people who will be employed, some of them for the first time in their lives, because they too, will enjoy the privilege and the dignity that comes with being able to put food on their tables. The people of our province will harvest a lot of socio-economic spin-offs from the implementation of this fourth phase,” the MEC concluded.
