The eThekwini Municipality has launched its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) policy framework to guide the implementation of the city's EPWP which is expected reduce poverty and maximise employment opportunities.
Councillor James Nxumalo, speaker of eThekwini municipality and previous champion of the EPWP within the municipality at the launch of the policy said " I am very proud to be associated with the municipality's EPWP, which I have watched grow and give hope to a lot of people."
The policy will ensure that all departments in the city will now have a framework within to implement the EPWP.
Deputy Director General at national of the EPWP, Bongani Gxilishe commended the municipality for a job well done. "eThekwini municipality and the EPWP have had a long relationship and now at the municipality's own initiative they have developed this policy which will can be used as a model to implement the EPWP within other municipalities."
The municipality has taken an aggressive approach in implementing the EPWP programme within the city by ensuring that a portion of the city's capital budget is allocated to EPWP projects. This will increase each year by 5% ensuring accelerated poverty alleviation.
"The budget is structured in this way so that we absorb more of the unskilled and unemployed citizens of eThekwini," said Nxumalo.
Currently the municipality has a number of other existing labour intensive programmes within the city funded by either the operating or capital budgets that can be expanded on namely, solid waste collection, rural water and sanitation programme, agriculture and various other maintenance cooperatives.
The EPWP framework identifies a task group who will ensure that the will also ensure developmental integration across all sectors, namely the infrastructure, environmental, social and economic sectors.
"The framework ensures that we re-engineer how the City plans, designs and implements projects and programmes within the existing municipal operational and capital budgets," said Nxumalo.
The EPWP is a nationwide programme which seeks to draw significant numbers of unemployed into the productive sector of the economy, gaining skills while they work and increasing their capacity to earn income.
Source: ethekwini.gov.za
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