Ramaphosa hails EPWP, says ‘millions of jobs created’
The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has been hailed a success by President Cyril Ramaphosa who said the government initiative has created more than 14 million work opportunities since its inception 20 years ago.
Ramaphosa was on Wednesday speaking at the launch Phase V of the programme at the Buffalo City stadium in the Eastern Cape.
Government says the EPWP is a nationwide programme that creates job opportunities and provides income support to poor and unemployed people “through the delivery of public and community assets and services, thereby contributing towards development”.
It’s one of the country’s flagship Public Employment Programmes and has been implemented for the past 20 years since April 2004.
President Ramaphosa’s office said since its inception the initiative “has created more than 14 million work opportunities across all the EPWP sectors through more than 300 public bodies and Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) implementing the EPWP”.
The work opportunities were created in sectors such as road constructions, road maintenance, construction of schools and clinics, provision of Early Childhood Development Services, environmental greening and clean-up projects, fire projects and the removal of alien vegetation projects.
During his keynote address, the President also referred to an earlier speech by Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, who provided some highlights of the term of the provincial government.
“We heard him [Premier Mabuyane] say more and more investors are coming to the Eastern Cape [and] we heard him say we are rolling out more and more infrastructure facilities,” Ramaphosa said.
He also revealed that the Umzimvubu Water Project in the Eastern Cape is finally under construction – 17 years after it was first announced.
R8-billion had been set aside for the mega-project.
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