Durban - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is confident the government can exceed its target of creating 6 million jobs by 2019 with the new Expanded Public Works Programme.
Speaking at an employment project in Orange Farm in Johannesburg on Wednesday, he said the government had been hard at work addressing the challenges faced by South Africans, including chronically high unemployment.
“It is exciting and inspiring work. We were most excited at how our people are engaging with work here,” he said.
“From young learners doing computer lessons every day - the computer learning centre is huge and an iconic learning opportunity in the community -it is a skill that is so necessary these days.”
A member of the project who works in a vegetable garden said they fed about 500 people a month at soup kitchens and old-age homes.
He said he had learnt how to identify different types of soil, and could now analyse the soil to the extent that he could tell if it was too acidic. Having worked in the Expanded Public Works Programme for nine months, he had also learnt how to cultivate and enhance soil using manure and fertiliser.
He asked Ramaphosa to try to increase their contracts of employment.
But the deputy president was hopeful the skills learnt could lead to further employment elsewhere. “The level of enthusiasm is huge. They would like to work more days than they are working now.
“We hope to be able to extend the number of people working here,” he said.
“Working here is an opportunity to gain experience, not just an income. People here attest to this. It is experience that stands them in good stead when they get gainful employment elsewhere.”
He said through the programme in Orange Farm, the government had learnt some lessons. “People here said this project improves their lives, gives them a sense of dignity, it’s a source of income and an opportunity to get skills.
“We should applaud the Extended Public Works Programme and not look down on it. The programme contributes more than people in Parliament who dismiss it might think,” Ramaphosa said.
He said an “army of community workers” were building communities, which had been fractured by apartheid brick by brick.
An inter-ministerial committee comprising Co-operative Governance, Public Works, Small Business and Statistics SA has now been tasked with extending and broadening the programme’s work.
The Mercury