Question NW2611 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
15 September 2023 - NW2611
Komane, Ms RN to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
With reference to her reply to question 1753 on 5 June 2023 and engagements with communities on oversight visits it has become apparent that most Local Reference Committees within the municipalities do not support the community works programme, what is the yardstick that her department will use to show that the programme is implementable and implement it as it has not worked especially in Gauteng and North West to date?
Reply:
a) Local Reference Committees (LRCs) are a deliberate design feature of the Community Work Program (CWP). They are primarily intended to provide an Oversight Role in the implementation of CWP at Site level. In this regard, this implies signing off on the development of Site Business Plans and monitoring the implementation thereof. Site Business Plans detail the Useful Work Projects that will be undertaken by the different work groups each led by a Supervisor.
b) LRCs meet once a quarter to receive reports on the implementation of the Site Business Plans from Site Managers. It is these reports that enable the oversight and monitoring of the implementation of the program. Where there are challenges, the LRC is enjoined to provide support to ensure remedies are expeditiously implemented. These reports, together with all relevant Portfolio of Evidence (POE) are submitted through the province to national department as attestation that the program is being implemented.
c) Additionally, the Monitoring and Reporting protocols of CWP enable regular Site Visits as a mechanism of ensuring validation and verification of what has been reported. This is the yardstick my department employs to illustrate that the program is implementable.
d) Indeed, there has been challenges regarding LRC functionality in the Gauteng and North West provinces. This is the function of a persistent instability that emanates from an attempt at unionisation of CWP participants in those specific provinces. In this regard, there seems to be a drive at recruiting Participants in this poverty alleviation program into Unions with a promise for access to employee benefits that are determined through the collective bargaining process. The department is dealing with this phenomenon.
End.