of the launch Umsebenzi Portal, Zenzile Training Centre, Khayelitsha
19 November 2007
Programme Director
MEC for Public Works and Transport, my colleague, Marius Fransman
Departmental officials
Esteemed guests
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great honour for me to be invited to this important function, to
gain insight into what is being achieved through diligent commitment by
Departments like this one as we continue our united effort at fighting poverty
and unemployment.
We were here in Cape Town in early August to celebrate the launch of the
Masakh'isizwe Bursary Scheme that focus strictly on the building up of a cadre
of built environment professionals in collaboration with institutions of higher
learning and private sector in this province. It is thus greatly heartening to
again be invited here to come back and realise that my comrade and colleague
here, MEC Fransman and his department continue to make great strides in
fulfilling our government's social contract with our people: providing
opportunities for a better life for all.
A lot of effort is being put in ensuring that the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP) is massified for maximum impact on the lives of poor people in
our country. All the sectors of the EPWP are being stepped up a gear to ensure
that by the end of this first phase in 2009, more than one million work
opportunities would have been created by this programme. We aim to add value to
the lives of as many people as possible in the four sectors of the EPWP.
I understand that the Western Cape Provincial Economic Review and Outlook of
2006, indicates that unemployment among young people in the Western Cape is
becoming 'increasingly dire,' despite the fact that the educational profile of
young people is superior to that of their older counterparts.
The reviews show that over 52% of 15 to 24-year-olds in this province are
unemployed. Among 25 to 34-year-olds, the unemployment rate is substantially
lower at 25%, dropping to about 13% among 45 to 54 year-olds.
The unemployment rate of matriculants between 15 and 34 is more than 2,5
times higher than that of those between 35 and 65.
What these figures are telling us is that older people are tending to keep
their jobs, while younger people are struggling to find employment. This has
important implications for future economic growth as long-term unemployment
entrenches itself among the youth and begins to erode skills and knowledge that
younger labour force members currently have, but are unable to extend or even
maintain through employment.
That is why it is heartening to see initiatives like the EPWP Opportunities
Portal whose main aims are:
* to assist job seekers in finding jobs and employers in finding workers with
the required skills,
* to provide access to job training and related services,
* to link to existing initiatives and programmes.
This programme should be able to help in solving one of the pressing
challenges right across the country which the Department of Labour is also
trying to solve: the actual number of unemployed people in a province or
particular locality. Without the accurate information, we really would be
shooting in the dark. This initiative should be able to help us and provide us
with accurate statistics instead of estimations.
The development of a comprehensive electronic database of unemployed people
and their skills will indeed assist job seekers in finding opportunities for
employment and employers in finding qualified workers. I like the idea of
initially focusing on the beneficiaries of EPWP and other Public Works
Programmes. This is so because I understand that you have already started the
ball rolling by registering some fifteen thousand unemployed / under-employed
individuals that you had on your Learnership 1 000 database on this new
portal.
As the database will utilise existing Internet-enabled public access
infrastructure (for example the City of Cape Town's Smart Cape centres â
launched by the Premier in 2006) to allow people to get information on
programmes, register, develop and update Curriculum Vitae (CV)s, get access to
the internet and email and apply for jobs. This will be so because the youth is
hooked up on internet and other high technology gizmos. The main challenge that
we need to solve will be to publicise this initiative as much as possible.
Through training Community Development Workers (CDWs) in the use of the
system and calling on volunteers to assist at access points, unemployed persons
will have the opportunity to develop their CV's on the database as they
participate in EPWP projects or any other short term employment creation
initiatives. Potential employers will also have an opportunity to register
themselves on the system and to source employees who meet their requirements
for specific skills.
I applaud the department's efforts, together with e-Innovation in the
Department of the Premier, for developing a strategy and proposal for extending
the network of internet-enabled public access points to areas where they are
currently not available. I know that you already have identified 114
access-points throughout the Western Cape, where the unemployed can register
themselves on the opportunities portal.
The reported success and frequency with which the smart cape access points
are used in the poorest communities in Cape Town, shows that, given the
opportunity to access information technology, the innovativeness of unemployed
persons can be harnessed to not only access employment for themselves, but also
to create employment within their communities.
In order to meet the millennium goals of halving unemployment by 2014, a lot
more is needed from all of us to deal with the scourge of poverty and
unemployment. We need to continuously think creatively on what can be done to
take forward our struggle.
The Western Cape is proving to be one of the more creative provinces as I
understand that you have already recruited more than 800 learners in your
Learnership 1 000 programme.
Although not dissimilar from the Vuk'uphile programme which is a two year
training programme for emerging contractors, your learnership 1 000 is wider
than Vuk'uphile, with learns getting more skills than just on building. This is
highly recommended as we need a vast array of skills in the build environment
to get complete artisans and project managers, who are able to deliver complete
infrastructure building projects.
Labour-intensive methodologies are the cornerstone of the Expanded Public
Works Programme, not just here in our country, but worldwide. Last month, our
Department, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation and the
Department of Transport in KwaZulu-Natal convened the 12th Regional Seminar on
Labour Intensive Practices. That conference brought together specialists,
researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines. There were also
eight Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ministers whose portfolios
include Public Works.
The main aim of the conference was to explore, at a regional level, ways and
means of fighting this major challenge facing our continent and our global
village â the inability of millions to access work. It is my hope that all the
deliberations that were undertaken at that conference will enable us to scale
up our own labour-intensive programmes in the infrastructure, social and
economic sectors of EPWP. It must also enable us to expand regional
partnerships for infrastructure development, job creation and the development
of our human capital.
Government's commitment to the EPWP is underpinned by budget allocations
that prescribe the objectives of labour intensity and skills development as
central to the delivery of infrastructure, social and economic services. This
year's original EPWP budget of R15 billion to provinces and municipalities has
since been increased by a further R3 billion allocated to the provinces for the
labour intensive construction and maintenance of access roads.
Further responding to our President's call to expand the scope and impact of
the EPWP, both national and provincial Departments of Public Works this year
launched the EPWP National Youth Service, underpinned by a vision to support
the employment, growth and development of our youth, as well as their ability
to contribute to South Africa's ongoing journey of transformation.
We continue to draw on the ongoing support of the Department of Labour,
which plays a critical role in the EPWP by providing all the training in the
programmes, either directly, or through the various Sector Education and
Training Authorities that have been established. Our experience shows that
skills development is a key component in the effective and efficient use of
labour intensive technologies and that continued emphasis should be placed on
training. With the support of the Construction Industry Development Board
(CIDB), a series of practical manuals have been developed to support the
design, implementation and training in labour intensive construction methods. I
am pleased to note that these have gained considerable international use,
enabling South Africa to contribute to job creation in many parts of the
world.
Ladies and gentlemen
Public works programmes are an important initiative in South Africa, but also
around Africa and the world. They are geared at alleviating unemployment, and
at creating a foothold in the economy for the marginalised, unskilled and
unemployed.
It is greatly heartening to realise that all spheres of government are
continuing to come up with fresh ideas on how to expand and deepen the impact
of the EPWP. It is important not to neglect the other components of the EPWP as
they can be a great source of poverty alleviation and providing jobs. We need
to forever think of ways to improve our impact on the lives of poor and
marginalised people like the rural and semi-urban poor.
There is an excellent project in the Hibiscus Coast Municipality of Southern
KwaZulu-Natal whereby community members are benefiting through the collection
of garbage. The programme, called Siyazenzela, is an innovative scheme that
started as an environmental campaign to clean up the area has become both a job
creation scheme and the poverty alleviator. The community get generous food
parcels for bringing in garbage that they collect. The garbage gets collected
at a central municipal vegetable market and it is transported to be recycled.
They are achieving three objectives in one project. NgesiZulu singathi bashaya
izinyoni ezintathu ngetshe elilodwa, to coin a phrase. Their environment is
cleaned up, they get food and jobs are being provided to those who recycle. It
is a brilliant scheme that shows what can be achieved with more inventiveness
on our part.
It is therefore my fervent hope that this programme will help us push on
forward towards giving dignity to our people by providing job opportunities and
releasing them from the trap of poverty.
Once again, thank you for the innovation and the invitation.
Issued by: Department of Public Works
19 November 2007
