Tshwane reforms EPWP policy: No more insiders and outsiders 

26 June 2017

The City of Tshwane is in the process of reforming its Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) recruitment policy and bring to an end years of nepotism, cronyism and patronage.

Ever since its inception EPWP has been mired in controversy, and a system which was supposed to grant the poorest of the poor access to job opportunities and skills transfer, was abused by the ANC to extend its networks of patronage.

In its current form, Tshwane’s EPWP recruitment policy has hopelessly too many loopholes, and was openly abused by ANC councillors and their cronies to give jobs to family, friends and party members.

To this end, the DA-led multiparty government policy reform aims to put an end to these practices, by closing the loopholes and ensuring that qualifying beneficiaries will have fair and equal access to job opportunities.

Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, reiterated his commitment to ensure that “this new administration will do all in its power to ensure that EPWP work is done fairly and this includes but is not limited to the 23 000 EPWP jobs we aim to create in the coming financial year as announced in April’s State of the Capital Address (SoCA).”

Once adopted, this policy will ensure that there are no more insiders and outsiders, that councillors will no longer play a part in identifying and recruiting beneficiaries, and will be open to all of those in need.

Furthermore, this City government believes that there is more to EPWP programmes than just short-term relief.

Programmes must impart, or at least attempt to impart, meaningful skills which enable beneficiaries to exit the programme and enter the world of work with better prospects.

EPWP programmes must also benefit the City, by being productive and serving the objectives listed in the Integrated Development Plan, and so they have to be well managed.

To this end, the policy reform will distinguish between three training streams:

- Skills-transfer programmes that involve beneficiaries in operational functions such as greening, cleansing, policing and other activities designed to impart meaningful work skills and experience for a period of up to 12 months;

- Capital projects that have a specific time-limit, with the option that if the project runs into overtime that the beneficiary contracts may be extended with the proper consent; and

- A combination of the above depending on the skill set of the EPWP applicants and other considerations;

The reformed policy will also aim to distinguish EPWP from the City’s internship policy, and ensure that there is no conflict in the way the City applies grant funding and how it applies SETA funding.

It will provide for a minimum set or sets of qualifying criteria and how such qualifications are to be confirmed, and provide for a database of qualified beneficiaries from which appointments are to be made, either by means of a lottery or a waiting list system.

The policy must also deal with how the beneficiary database is to be established.

The City believes that the above reforms will win back the trust of communities, which was lost by the previous administration’s handling of public works jobs.

Statement issued by Cllr Cilliers Brink, MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, City of Tshwane, 26 June 2017