Pretoria - Rumours that the metro’s street-cleaning project named “Vat Alles” would be phased out if Thoko Didiza became mayor are false and misleading.
Public Works spokeswoman Kgomotso Mathuloe said the rumours, spread among beneficiaries of the project during the unrest that followed Didiza’s nomination last week, were baseless and meant to cause confusion among voters.
“We refute these unfounded allegations. We also wish to dispel any confusion that these allegations may have caused among beneficiaries of the initiative in the municipality.”
Mathuloe said the Public Works programmes were non-partisan and served to uplift the lives of disadvantaged communities by providing work opportunities and skills training.
Those campaigning for the reinstatement of incumbent mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa fuelled the rumour that the programme would be discontinued when he leaves office after the August elections.
The message was repeated at various gatherings and circulated in a recorded voice message distributed to municipal workers and ANC comrades.
“Vat Alles” is one of 94 Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP). The initiative is the brainchild of the national department and essentially a localised version of EPWP.
Critics have over the years claimed that the programmes were tailored to benefit ANC card-carrying members only - and not the entire community.
The project was implemented in Mabopane, Soshanguve, Winterveld, Hammanskraal, Atteridgeville and Ga-Rankuwa.
The EPWP projects in the metro had collectively created 5 734 work opportunities between April last year and March 31 this year.
“A total of 51.9% of the total number of work opportunities created were for young people; women constituted a total of 54.9% and people living with disabilities 0.6%,” Mathuloe said.
Vat Alles beneficiary and Winterveld resident Sam Matjeni said the initiative did not only create much-needed work opportunities for the poor, but reduced illegal dumping in townships.
“I admire this project because apart from creating jobs, our kasi now looks beautiful and clean as participants work hard to reduce the number of illegal dumping sites in the area,” said Matjeni.
Pretoria News