Question NW3387 to the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
13 November 2023 - NW3387
Zondo, Mr S S to ask the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
Whether he has any actionable immediate plans in place to give effect to the restructuring of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to ensure sustainable employment; if not; why not; if so, (a) on what date were the plans adopted by the Government, (b) what are the details of what has been implemented thus far and (c) what is the total amount of the budget that has been allocated for the implementation of the restructured EPWP?
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
Three priority areas have been identified for implementation starting from the 2023–24 fiscal year in order to introduce urgent actionable plans to give effect to the restructuring of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) for ensuring sustainable employment. Projects in these priority areas will be implemented with an emphasis on improving participant skills and entrepreneurial outcomes through training. Public bodies in the different spheres of government will implement projects in the identified priority areas as follows:
(i) Road upgrading and maintenance interventions related to pothole patching and block paving;
(ii) Cleaning of public spaces and waste management including the cleaning of public buildings; and
(iii) Clean energy interventions related retrofitting of government buildings and solar installations.
To this end, in my capacity as the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure mandated to lead the EPWP, I have engaged with various EPWP stakeholders from all spheres of government to focus on the approach of implementing the above-mentioned priority areas.
a) The plans were not adopted on a particular date but have been communicated with different public bodies and are different stages of implementation depending on the plans of the different public bodies.
b) The projects that have been implemented so far in the different priority areas are as follows:
(i) Road upgrading and maintenance
A total of 144 block paving and Pothole patching projects with 14, 424 work opportunities have been implemented by provincial roads departments and municipalities so far in the 2023/24 financial year.
(ii) Cleaning of public spaces and waste management
A total of 912 cleaning and Waste Management projects with 74, 642 work opportunities reported have been implemented by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Provincial Departments of the Environment, Municipalities and the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure so far in the 2023/ 24 financial year.
(iii) Clean Energy
There are no clean energy projects currently implemented, however, pre-project planning activities are being finalised to ensure implementation in the current financial year.
c) Leveraging from the existing budgets (i.e. Provincial Roads Management Grant, Municipal Infrastructure Grant, Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment Budget Vote, Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Budget Vote, EPWP Integrated Grant to Municipalities and Integrated Grant to Provinces) a total budget of R4.074 Billion has been identified to implement 1,101 projects under these focus areas, with 101,894 work opportunities projected to be created by public bodies and reported within the 2023/24 financial year.