Question NW3491 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) is the overall coordinator of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), comprised of the Infrastructure, Social, Environment and Culture and Non-State sectors. The DPWI leads the Infrastructure and Non-State sectors while the Department of Social Development (DSD) and Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) coordinate the Social Sector and Environment and Culture Sector, respectively. Further, the EPWP is implemented by various public bodies across all three spheres of Government.

The following response is specific to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

• The EPWP Municipal Infrastructure programme focuses on promoting the use of labour-intensive methods in construction by municipalities during the implementation of infrastructure projects to create work opportunities.
• The EPWP National Youth Service Programme (NYS) aims to train youth in built environment artisan trades. The programme is implemented by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the provincial departments of public works.
• The Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme is a two to three-year learnership programme aimed at training and developing emerging contractors to enhance their skills for bidding and the execution of labour-intensive construction projects under the EPWP, as well as conventional construction projects. The Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme is implemented in partnership with various stakeholders that include public bodies, i.e. Municipalities, Provincial Departments and State Owned Entities, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and a financial service provider (who provides bridging finance).
• The EPWP Provincial Roads programme focuses on supporting provincial road departments to implement construction and maintenance projects labour-intensively. The support is provided by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in collaboration with the Department of Transport.
• The EPWP, Large Projects programme, focuses on ensuring that significant portions of projects with a budget greater than R30 million are implemented labour-intensively. The Large Projects are implemented in the different spheres of Government.
• The Non-State sector is a cross-cutting EPWP sector comprising Non-Profit Organisations (NPO) and Community Work Programmes which deliver infrastructure, social and environment-related services through non-state actors at local and community levels. The NPO component of the Non-State sector is implemented through the Independent Development Trust (IDT), an entity of the DPWI.

b) With regard to the budget allocated to each programme;

• R 20 million was allocated for Municipal Infrastructure support at a national level in the 21/22 financial year to support leveraging off projects funded by municipalities through various grants like the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. In the 21/22 financial year, municipal infrastructure projects worth more than

R5 266,472,189 were reported through the EPWP.

• • For the National Youth Service programme, a budget of R600,000 was used for coordination at a national level in the 21/22 financial year. The National Youth Service was implemented on projects with an overall budget of R221,691,176 in the 21/22 financial year.
  • A budget of R 7.9 million for support of the implementation of the Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme at a national level in the 2021/22 financial year with projects public bodies implemented more than R46.5 million.
  • R15.48 million was available for provincial road coordination support at a national level in the 21/22 financial year. Funding for the Provincial Roads programme is from the Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant (PRMG) and equitable share from provinces. Over R3.5 billion worth of projects were reported through the provincial roads programmes in the 21/22 financial year.
  • The Large Projects programme had R300,000 for coordination at a national level in the 21/22 financial year. Large projects worth more than R342 million were reported in the 21/22 financial year from different public bodies.
  • During 2021/22 financial year utilising own funding, public bodies in the Social, Environment and Culture and Non-State (CWP) sectors spent R4,5 billion, R3 billion and R889,904,599 respectively. The DPWI through the Implementation Agent, the Independent Development Trust (IDT), spent R797 975 370 of the NPO implementation allocation on participants’ wages in the 21/22 financial year.

c) With regard to the number of job opportunities created in each case;

• From the municipal infrastructure programme 88 462 work opportunities were reported in the 21/22 financial year.
• On the National Youth Service programme, 9,195 work opportunities were reported in the 21/22 financial year.
• For Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme, 618 work opportunities were reported during the 2021/22 financial year
• For Provincial Roads Programme, 134,340 work opportunities were reported on the EPWP reporting system by provincial roads departments in the 2021/22 financial year.
• For the 2021/22 financial year, 3,570 work opportunities were reported on the Large Projects programme from public bodies in the different spheres of Government.
• The number of work opportunities reported in the Social, Environment and Culture and Non-State (CWP) sectors was 163 928, 176 979 and 222 587, respectively. The Non-Profit Organisations program reported 100 212 work opportunities.

d) With regard to the duration of the contracts of the beneficiaries;

• Municipal Infrastructure projects in 2021/22 financial year had an average duration of 81 days.
• The average duration of work opportunities on the National Youth Service programme was 136 days in the 21/22 financial year.
• The Vuk’uphile learnership programme is implemented over a period of 2 to 3 years.
• Provincial Roads Programme recorded an average duration of 162 days for participants on projects reported by provincial roads departments in the 21/22 financial year.
• On the Large Projects programme, participants had an average duration of 101 days.
• The duration of contracts of the beneficiaries vary per sector, depending on the project duration. In the Social Sector in 2021/22 across all programmes, the average duration of work opportunities was 161 person days of work. The Environment and Culture sector provided an average duration of 77.8 person days of work while the Community Work provided an average of 34 person days of work.
• Due to the delayed start in the implementation of the NPO programme in 2021/22 financial year which resulted in a phased approach in October and November 2021, participants’ contracts were for six (6) and five (5) months ending in March 2022.

e) With regard to the conversion to permanent employment of EPWP participants;

• On the municipal infrastructure programme, there are no recorded statistics on conversation to permanent employment.
• On the National Youth Service Programme, 36 learners were permanently employed by contractors on the DPWI projects in the 21/22 financial year.
• The contractors in Vuk’uphile are not converted into permanent employment, however the training focusses on developing the emerging contractors such that they are better able to sustain their business.
• EPWP Participants on projects implemented under the Provincial Roads Programme are not converted into permanent employment but are capacitated through skills development for opportunities in the active construction labour market.
• On the EPWP Large Projects, there are no recorded conversion of participants into permanent employment.
• No formal reports in respect of conversion to permanent employment of EPWP participants were received from the implementing public bodies of the Social, Environment and Culture and Non-State sectors in 2021/22.
• Interestingly, a longitudinal study conducted by the EPWP Branch to determine the employment status of participants after their participation in the EPWP; the wave one of the study found that 21% of the participants that left the programme found employment elsewhere. This was confirmed by the Q1 2021 Quarter Labour Force Survey (QLFS) report which found that 22% of those that worked in the EPWP in the 2019/20 financial year and have left the programme found employment elsewhere after leaving the programme.

f) With regard to skills development that were undertaken in each programme;

• DPWI has to apply for funding to the National Skills Development Fund.
• On the municipal infrastructure programme, on-site training is conducted during project implementation which participant can then use it elsewhere when they exit the programme.
• Under NYS programme, the 9,195 participants in the 21/22 financial year undertook skills development (theoretical and practical training) in different artisan trades. There was also skills transferred to the general labourers who were employed in the projects.
• Contractors developed through the Vuk’uphile Learnership Programme are trained through Construction Education and Training Authority accredited training provider that offers them an NQF level 4 qualification called Supervision of Construction Processes. A total of 30 contractors were supported in the 21/22 financial year.
• A number of skills training courses and on the job practical training opportunities were given to participants on road construction and maintenance trades across all provinces during projects implementation.
• On the Large Projects programme, participants were provided with on the job training to be able to implement different activities on the infrastructure projects implemented.
• Training did not take place in respect of the Non-State sector NPO programme.
• The Social, Environment and Culture sectors reported 546 118 and 383 905 work opportunities with training days respectively across all sector programmes while the Non-State sector (CWP) reported 5 484 work opportunities with training.