J Swanson-Jacobs: Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Social Sector
conference

8 April 2009

Members of the Social Sector
Government officials
All protocol observed

It gives me great pleasure to address you this morning. In 14 days time our
country goes to the polls for the fourth time since the historic elections of
1994. This serves once more as an affirmation of the strength of democracy in
our country. In the last 15 years, this ANC-led government has ensured that the
fruits of democracy are enjoyed by all. The promise of 'a better life for all'
has become a reality for millions of our citizens. And it is this promise that
lies at the heart of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), and its
extension to the Social Sector ensures that citizens benefit both as receivers
and dispensers of government services.

The vision of the Department of Social Development is that of building a
caring society together. The Social Sector EPWP has made this vision a reality
in the lives of our citizens. The EPWP in the Social Sector has focused on the
areas of Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Home Community Based Care
(HCBC). These were chosen as pilots on the basis of the following reasons:

* Their labour intensive nature
* Service delivery backlogs
* Use of mainly non profit organisations as delivery agents
* Utilisation of volunteers, especially poor women in disadvantaged
communities
* The cross cutting nature of the programmes present a better opportunity to
promote intersectoral collaboration, integrated planning and
implementation.

Thus Social Development was able to achieve the two objectives of ensuring
that the unemployed are drawn into the world of work, while at the same time
enhancing the provision of social services. And the sector's progress has been
impressive. The sector performance as at the end of the third quarter of the
fifth year stands at 172 755 which is 115% of the total target of 150 000. Even
more remarkable was that the target of 30% for youth and 40% for women employed
was exceeded.

Instead of those employed in the programmes 40% were youth and 73% women.
The only shortcoming was with regard to disability where the two percent target
was not reached, with only 0,3% of those employed being disabled. I think its
time we stopped disregarding the targets for disability and made a sustained
effort to reach them. We need to utilise a more targeted approach in the hiring
of the differently abled. We need a concerted plan towards the hiring of those
with disabilities and a more innovative approach to utilising them, one that
the private and other sectors can emulate.

In recent years the economy has for the first time been creating jobs faster
than the rate at which new people have entered the job market. On average half
a million new jobs have been added to the economy every year since 2004,
reducing unemployment from 31% in 2003 to 23% in 2007. The Expanded Public
Works Programme created a million work opportunities, a year ahead of its
target.

Many other lessons were learned from the implementation of the first phase
of the EPWP. There is a great need for the standardisation of conditions of
service for employees. It has also become necessary to interrogate the funding
model utilised by the sector. The funding for the sector should increase and
the provinces allocation for EPWP should be ring-fenced in order to ensure that
targets are met. Implementing bodies such as municipalities should be
capacitated to expand these programmes.

The other challenge lies with leadership and programme capacity. There is a
need for greater political recognition and ownership of the successes of the
EPWP programme. There are few job creation programmes that have achieved the
success of the EPWP in recent times and it is vital that these successes are
communicated across all sectors by the political leadership. As far as capacity
building is concerned, training providers, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs) and SETAs need to be strengthened to guarantee delivery by the EPWP
programmes.

The success of the EPWP in the Social Sector can further be measured by the
fact that the ECD programme has become one of government's Apex Priorities, and
a fundamental component of the War on Poverty campaign. Its importance in the
reduction of child poverty cannot be underestimated. There are thus a number of
plans to further the expansion of the EPWP in this sector.

The second phase of the Social Sector in EPWP is moving the programme
forward beyond number targets towards improvement of quality of service,
focusing on the reach of the programme through geographic targeting into rural
areas in general and nodal areas in particular. There will be expansion of
sub-programmes beyond HCBC and ECD to include additional areas for creation of
jobs identified in the study commissioned by Social Sector EPWP Task Team.

Speaking at the launch of the phase two of EPWP at the University of the
Western Cape, the Deputy President of South Africa, Ms Baleka Mbete emphasised
that the focus of EPWP in the second phase would shift to Home Based Care
programmes and community health structures. This is a clear indication of the
value that government puts in the work that this sector toils hard to
fulfill.

The programme is aiming to include the Non Profit Organisations (NPOs) as
part of the Non-State Sector. These NPOs will access additional budgets through
the incentive scheme for EPWP implementation. To be included to benefit from
the incentive scheme is the Community Works Programme which combines creation
of work opportunities utilising community development approaches from
below.

Inter-Governmental relations protocols will be developed to strengthen
Social Sector coordination and commit stakeholders to deliver on their
commitments. A strategy will be developed to engage municipalities to deliver
on the EPWP Social Sector objectives. A sector specific communications
framework will also be developed to enhance the profile of Social Sector
sub-programmes.

Thus the areas the sector will aim to improve are the following:

* Improving conditions of service for workers
* Developing efficient and effective monitoring, evaluation and reporting
mechanisms
* To strengthen good governance and institutional mechanisms
* To reinforce training and capacity building systems to improve employability
of the EPWP workers
* Improve visibility of the EPWP programme through stronger communication
strategies
* To lobby for additional resources for the different stakeholders to
effectively implement the EPWP
* To expand the EPWP beyond the two pilots of the ECD and HCBC.

The current global financial crisis and the prospect of rising job losses
make the work of the EPWP even more important than ever before. Our
achievements in the coming five years will stand as testimony to the success of
our government's efforts at poverty reduction and the halving of unemployment
by 2014. The innovative approach to the EPWP taken by this sector is commended.
It is an approach that should be strengthened in plotting the way forward.

In support of the EPWP, the ANC manifesto states that the ANC government
will "Step up a massive programme on expanded public works linked to
infrastructure and meeting social needs with home-based care, crèches, school
cleaning and renovation, community gardens, removal of alien vegetation, tree
planting and school feeding."

We need to bear in mind as we move into EPWP phase two, that for us in the
Social Sector, EPWP is more than just creating work opportunities. There are
secondary yet equally important objectives of government to which the programme
contributes, which we should not neglect or undermine. These include, amongst
others, the strengthening of social cohesion, the promotion of Ubuntu through
the provision of care to the sick and aged as well as promotion of national
identity and patriotism.

Thank you to all delegates for your contributions, commitment and dedication
over the last five years of the programme. You have worked hard to creatively
adapt the public works approach to the Social Sector. You are the envy of many
countries in the developing world.

We now have even more prospects to accelerate the creation of work
opportunities as part of our government's War on Poverty. Your deliberations
and plans over the last three days have the potential to bring hope to millions
of our people. Let's get South Africa to work. Let's reduce poverty and
unemployment. Let's create that better life for all. Together we can do more.
VIVA ANC VIVA!

Issued by: Department of Social Development
8 April 2009