EPWP creates 94 632 Work Opportunities for Gauteng residents in 2024/2025
By Alfred Nhlapo
Gauteng Provincial Government departments and municipalities have together created 94 632 Work Opportunities for communities under the auspices of the Expanded Public Works Programme during the 2024/2025 financial year and achieved 106% performance. The province exceeded the initial target of 89 224 work opportunities for the year by an extra 5408 temporary jobs, resulting in more Gauteng households having persons benefiting from the EPWP than what was planned. The programme is coordinated by the Department of Infrastructure Development through which participants are placed for work exposure in Infrastructure, Environment and Culture, and Social sectors for a limited period of time. The department is led by MEC Jacob Mamabolo who has emphasised the importance of job creation and skills development as a means of building sustainable communities who are better positioned to contribute to economic growth.
The Infrastructure Sector places participants in construction and refurbishment projects for public facilities such schools, clinics, libraries, and early childhood development centres. EPWP participants in the other sectors are also placed in related environmental, cultural, and social development projects as well as in departmental units in the provincial government and municipal institutions.
The breakdown of EPWP work opportunities created during 2024/2025 consisted of 29 530 opportunities under the Infrastructure Sector, 27 388 under the Environment and Culture Sector, and 37 714 opportunities under the Social Sector. Gauteng provincial departments created 41251 work opportunities while municipalities in the city region contributed a total of 53381 opportunities for EPWP beneficiaries. The total number of women participants was 59125, while the youth component achieved during this period year was 55048. The number of People with Disabilities who participated in the programme during the period under review was 188. The department also placed 2725 participants under the National Youth Service, 1136 people under Vacant Land Maintenance, 1105 under Health Infrastructure Maintenance, as we as 1200 other beneficiaries under the Skills Development sub-programme.
The Chief Director: EPWP Ms Rae Davids at the Department of Infrastructure Development said the increase in the number of reported work opportunities created by government bodies in the province during the financial year under review was largely due to increased cooperation and improvement of reporting systems between stakeholders.
A previous 2011 cross-sectional research study has indicated that 80% of people who exit the EPWP after the expiry of contracts proceed to find active work in the broader job market. A Stats-SA 2015 Quarterly Labour Household Labour Survey also found that 12.4% of EPWP participants had later found permanent work, while 4.8% had later established their own businesses, with a 47.8% finding other temporary work. A further 14% of people who exit the EPWP also proceeded to engage in further training programmes.