Programme
30 November 2006
The Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks, has
expressed her confidence in the Working for Water programme that is providing
employment opportunities in poor communities in the removal of invasive alien
plant species that damage the environment and consume large amounts of water.
The impact of the programme has seen over 20 million person-days of employment
being created over the past eleven years. The work of the programme has proved
invaluable in improving water flow and the quality of water.
On Tuesday, 26 November 2006, a small group of people employed by the WfW
programme in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, marched to the department's regional
offices to hand over a memorandum with a list of demands. One of the marchers'
demands was that the WfW appoints competent staff at management level of the
programme. In response, Minister Hendricks said her department was satisfied
that competent managers are running the programme and was generally pleased at
the level of delivery, as well as the impact of the programme.
A major concern of the group was that the programme stipulated a maximum
number of days that people were allowed to work in the programme (460 days over
a five-year period), after which they must exit the programme in order to make
way for new people.
The Minister said that WfW was part of the Extended Public Works Programme
(EPWP) and was governed by the agreements made with organised labour and
business and explained that this 'exiting' approach was to allow new people to
benefit from the opportunity of gaining work experience and of being trained in
this programme. The programme has been providing training to all contractors
and workers and has committed to providing appropriate training to those
exiting the programme.
"In regular meetings with the contractors, the programme has committed to
providing some open-tender contracts to do clearing work, for which the exited
contractors and their teams can compete. Furthermore, the programme is
endeavouring to find further work opportunities for which the contractors and
workers are suitably trained and organised," said the Minister.
The memorandum handed over to the department also made allegations of
corruption and mismanagement within the WfW Programme in Mpumalanga, which the
Minister said would be investigated.
Enquiries:
Themba Khumalo
Media Liaison Officer
Tel: (012) 336 8270
Cell: 082 802 3432
Issued by: Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
30 November 2006
