WC Department of Local Government creates 16 700 jobs

16 October 2023

In the 2022/23 financial year, the Department of Local Government created 16 689 job opportunities through its Community Works Programme (CWP).

The CWP provides a job safety net for unemployed people of working age and provides a bridging opportunity for unemployed youth and other job-seekers, providing them with income to support them in their search for full-time or part-time employment.

Programme participants do community work, such as social services, thereby contributing to improvements that benefit all residents throughout the Western Cape.

The CWP workers located in the Metropolitan and the five Districts continue to improve access to government services and economic opportunities. This includes supporting initiatives that enhance social well-being, encompassing areas such as Social Development, Education, Health Services, Safety and Security Support, as well as Municipal and Human Settlement Support.

Additionally, four Socio-Economic projects were implemented in Bergriver, Hessequa, Mossel Bay, and Overstrand, including:

- Multifunctional youth development and training facility in Bergrivier;

- Learners license & driver’s license project in Hessequa;

- Sewing and beading project in Mossel Bay;

- Thusong digital youth ambassadors in Overstrand.

MPP Isaac Sileku said: “In the 2022/23 Annual report, the Department of Local Government demonstrated outstanding performance by not only meeting but often exceeding their targets, even when many of them were substantially raised from the previous fiscal year.

One of the most impactful actions this government can take is to create jobs for the residents of the Western Cape. The Western Cape Government is doing its part to ensure the province remains the frontrunner in job creation across all provinces, with the lowest expanded unemployment rate in the country and over 368 000 jobs created between the second quarters of 2022 and 2023.

The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape remains committed to relentlessly pursuing the creation of more job opportunities, and will continue to work tirelessly to achieve this.”

Issued by Isaac Sileku, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Local Government, 16 October 2023