The Jozi@Work programme is not a hand-out from the City of Joburg, Executive Mayor Parks Tau warned.
“This is not a project where we say those looking for something to do should put their ID in a box and we pull out the one that wins,” he said.
Speaking at the last public information road show held by the city council, Tau explained that once a person submitted a competitive proposal and was contracted by the city council, the contractor was required to complete the work and meet the respective municipal entity’s standards.
The Jozi@Work programme is set to empower Joburg residents, particularly the unemployed and disenfranchised, by providing them with employment and business opportunities within the city council’s service delivery activities.
These stakeholders would be involved in the separation and recycling at dump sites, providing food to its urban nutrition programmes, de-sludging chemical toilets, providing frontline support to the city’s water and power infrastructure, and resurfacing and maintaining roads, signage and road markings.
Interested individuals or groups would need to register as a co-operative in order to participate in the programme.
There would then be a verification process to ensure that all the details submitted in the registration were correct, and the co-operatives would then be invited to submit proposals.
The proposals would be reviewed competitively by an independent committee, and the proposal that meets the needs and vision of the respective municipal entity would be awarded the contract.
Preference would be given to applicants who live within the region in which the work would be done.
Jak Koseff, the mayor’s advisor on priority projects, said that those contracted by the city council would receive ongoing support to equip themselves with the necessary tools and resources.
“We’re not expecting you to have cash up front… the support agents sort you out with everything you need and they only get that money back from you when the city pays you,” he explained.
However, he added that payment was based on the quality of service and levels of maintenance.
“When the city pays you we’re not going to pay you for every pothole you fill… you’ll be paid some up front or some on a retainer, and you’ll be paid for how clean you keep it or how pothole free you keep the road,” he said.
Support agents would help interested individuals to register their co-operatives, as well as assist with enterprise development, payments, other aspects of administration, material and tool sourcing, and also provide training.
More information on the programme, the various work packages and application forms are available at all regional offices.
