Address by Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Andries Nel, at the Ilembe District Community Work Programme launch, Maphumulo Local Municipality
Programme Director,
COGTA MEC, Ms Nomusa Dube-Ncube,
Mayor of Ilembe District Municipality, Cllr W Mdabe,
Mayor of Maphumulo Local Municipal Mayor, Cllr HM Ngcobo,
Traditional Leadership present,
CWP participants,
Sanibonani,
Good Morning.
I’m happy to join you here this morning.
Yesterday marked the 40th Anniversary of the June 16 student uprising. The Soweto Uprising is a tragedy we should never forget. Which is why we have honoured the sacrifice of the Youth of 1976 through a public holiday.
And while we remember those sacrifices, we should not forget how far we have come. Today we have a government that cares for its people. We have a government that has heard your cries for jobs.
We have responded.
The theme for the youth month is, “Youth Moving South Africa Forward”.
We are here to tell you that we have moved South Africa forward. The General Household Survey released by Stats SA this month, shows how this government has worked hard to overcome our apartheid legacy. Access to sanitation services increased from 62.3% in 2002 to 80% in 2015.
Refuse removal services of at least once a week, increased from 56.7% in 2002 to 63.5% in 2015. Access to electricity increased from 77.1% in 2002 to 85.5% in 2015. In KwaZulu-Natal access to electricity increased by 13% during this period. Access to piped water increased to 89.4% in 2015.
Under apartheid, local government did not care about such services in townships. This is a government that cares. We have ensured services are delivered to all our people. The rolling out of the Community Work Programme (CWP) across the country is recognition of the economic challenges facing our citizens.
The CWP provides an employment safety net by providing a minimum of two working days a week or eight working days per month of regular employment and income. It targets those in marginalised areas where employment opportunities are not easily accessible. It targets those citizens who many have forgotten.
But this government has not forgotten you. The CWP created over 223 000 work opportunities in the 2015/16 financial year. In this financial year an additional 21 423 participants and their families will benefit. Of these 5 800 will be from the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
A total of 38 additional municipalities will have CWP sites established by March 2017. Thirteen of these will be in this province. This will mean that the CWP will be in 234 municipalities by March 2017. The entire province of KwaZulu-Natal will be covered.
In this District of Ilembe, all municipalities are already benefiting from the programme. This covers Ndwedwe, Mandeni, Maphumulo and KwaDukuza whose site inception was done in the last financial year. This is what we mean by changing lives. We have practical programmes that respond to the needs of our people.
The CWP restores the dignity of participants by enabling them to take care of basic family necessities while they perform useful work that contributes to the public good within their communities. It also allows them to search for, or participate in other work as well.
The CWP contributes to improvements in the quality of life of individual participants, their households and communities. We noted that the Maphumulo Local Municipality site operates at full capacity with 1 000 work opportunities provided.
All 11 wards are benefiting from the programme. I’m glad that the Ndwedwe site is operating at full capacity and paid R774 186 in wages last month. I am happy to hear that all supervisors and team leaders in Maphumulo were trained in First Aid and given First Aid kits.
I’m told that you have also received training in home-based care, agriculture, plumbing, health and safety and sewing. It is our wish that this municipality and others in the district begin to focus more on activities such as these that empower participants in terms of skills and innovation. By doing this participants are exposed to activities that provide opportunities for economic empowerment and more livelihood opportunities.
I’m glad to say that as we celebrate Youth Month, at least 58% of participants benefiting from the programme are youth, out of which 77% are women. It is therefore imperative that we empower them with appropriate skills relevant to the economic growth needs of the country.
We must begin to document lessons of experience and share stories of positive developments or impact of the programme in communities.
Some good stories to tell have emerged in different parts of the country.
In KZN, for example:
Our Ubuhlebezwe site has produced a full-time teacher and a Department of Correctional Services employee.
In Ukhahlamba, a participant used his CWP stipend to take driving lessons and, upon getting his licence, was able to secure full-time employment by Eskom as a driver.
Also from Ukhahlamba, a participant used supervisory skills obtained while enrolled in the CWP to get a job as a supervisor for a Security Company.
Another used his stipend to take a course in Security Services and is now in the process of registering his own security company.
At the Umzumbe site, participants with Matric certificates were assigned work as teacher-aids in schools.
This exposure kindled a passion for teaching in one of the participants and she decided to pursue studies in education.
This is her final year training as a teacher. We want you to realise that the CWP is not an end in itself. It is a stepping-stone to greater things. It is what you make of it. And we are here by your side to help you along the way.
We, as the Departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs are working together to target the poorest amongst us, through the Community Work Programme. Let me thank all those who have made the CWP a success in this District Municipality.
This includes the provincial Cogta department, the district and local municipalities, the implementing agents, the Local Reference Committees, traditional leaders, the CWP participants who have made the programme a success through their efforts and our national officials.
The CWP continues to make a positive impact on the lives of poor participants, their families and communities.
I thank you!
