Reforming Expanded Public Works Programme a key to job creation – IRR

With unemployment reaching unsustainable heights, grants and public employment programmes like the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) have become a lifeline for many South Africans.

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean MacPherson, is undertaking a “listening tour” with the aim of reforming the EPWP.

According to the latest available data, the EPWP has created work opportunities for just over 4.7 million South Africans over the past five years, far short of addressing the unemployment crisis in South Africa.

Moreover, national government has paid out R7.7 billion in grants to provinces and municipalities to support local communities over the past five years. Nearly R14 million has been lost “through theft”, according to a recent parliamentary reply.

The key challenge the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure must bear in mind is that the country needs to create an environment that stimulates economic growth, investment and job creation which can create millions of more sustainable jobs and lift South Africans out of poverty, giving them a chance to prosper.

Says IRR researcher Chris Patterson: “Public employment programmes are often seen as measures of last resort to address unemployment. This doesn’t need to be the case, when the Government of National Unity (GNU) has access to alternative policies, such as the IRR’s Blueprint for Growth, which provide a step-by-step guide on how to improve the economy to get South Africans into higher-paying, sustainable employment.”

Millions of South Africans remain locked out of opportunity. A reformed, fit-for-purpose EPWP can be a first step to prosperity, but only if the GNU first recognises the need for economic growth.

“Institutionalising public employment programmes is not the way to create jobs, economic growth is. The sooner the GNU realises this, the sooner South Africans will have access to job opportunities,” Patterson concludes.

Read the IRR’s #BlueprintforGrowth paper on Jobs & Skills here.

Media contact: Chris Patterson, IRR Researcher, Tel: 063 682 5035 Email: chrisp@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris, Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za