Premier Phumulo Masualle,
Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi,
Deputy Ministers, MECs, Mayors present,
Traditional leaders,
Religious leaders,
Umuzi wakuQoboqobo,
Molweni nonke! Siyavuya ukuba nani ngalemini ebaluleke kangaka.

I am happy to join you today, as we, together, launch another phase in the important Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

During the State of the Nation Address this year, I announced that we would create six million work opportunities through the Expanded Public Works Programme over the next five years. The mandate came from the ANC Manifesto as announced during the elections.

Today we are happy to be launching that programme.

We will be building on the successes made by the EPWP over the years since 2004. Over the past 10 years, over 6 million work opportunities have been created by the Expanded Public Works Programme.

Through the EPWP programme, hundreds of thousands of home-based care visits have been made.

Thousands of schools around South Africa are receiving school feeding meals with food grown in EPWP food gardens, and with food prepared by EPWP workers.

Our EPWP environmental sector through the Working for Water programme has saved an estimated 71 percent of SA’s grazing land from irreversible degradation by removing alien invasive plants.

Through rural road maintenance programmes like Zibambele, rural households, the majority female headed, are caring for tens of thousands of kilometres of road.

This EPWP programme has its origins in the Growth and Development summit (GDS) of 2003.

The summit agreed then, that it was critical to massively scale up our Public Works Programmes in response to high levels of persisting unemployment.

The programmes provide poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed to carry out social useful activities. This is real work. Those involved have the possibility to acquire skills.

When the programme was introduced in 2004 Government wanted to address the high level of unemployment in the context of an economy with jobless growth. The EPWP’s aim was to ensure that a significant number of the unemployed are drawn into productive work - and, more importantly, that these workers should gain skills while they work.

In the first phase of the EPWP from 2004 to 2009, the target of one million work opportunities was achieved a year in advance.

In the second phase, from 2009 to 2014, a target to create 4.5 million work opportunities had been set and more than 90% was achieved. 

There were two major innovations in this phase. 

We began to work more closely with the Non-State Sector, developing a partnership with civil society by working closely with Non-Profit Organisations as well as the Community Work Programme. 

The second innovation was the inclusion of a fiscal incentive to provinces and municipalities, to reward the creation of more and longer term, stable employment.

All spheres of government were encouraged to create more work opportunities through labour-intensive programmes.

There is no doubt that Public Employment Programmes contribute enormously to the economy and the people of our country.

Besides the work opportunities created, the EPWP contributed much more in terms of assets and services to poor communities. 

Let me make a few examples across the different sectors of the EPWP:
• The fires extinguished by the fire fighters in the Working on Fire Programme saved the forestry industry millions of Rand over time.
• Through the removal of invasive alien plants in the Working for Water Programme, rivers have started to flow again and wetlands had been restored through the Working for Wetlands Programme.
• The maintenance of rural roads by mainly female-headed households in the Zibambele Programme led not only to income transfers into these households, but also to women starting savings clubs and forming cooperatives.
• Thousands of children were exposed to early education while their parents are at work through Early Childhood Development centres many of these partly staffed by EPWP participants.
• Thousands of the infirm are taken care of through the home-community-based programme.
 
The Expanded Public Works Programme is one among several key pillars. Through our social grants, we are now providing basic income support to over 16 million South Africans – up from 3 million in 1994.
 
We support job creation through a wide range of other state-led programmes – including the National Infrastructure Programme, our Skills and Training programmes, our Industrial Policy Action Plans and our small business and cooperative development programmes.

As we launch Phase 3 of the programme, we will be using lessons from previous phases.

In particular in Phase 3 we want to place increasing emphasis not just on reaching Work Opportunity targets, but also pay greater attention to the quality of the services that are provided and the new assets created – schools, clinics and multi-purpose centres built with EPWP participants.

We also want to place greater emphasis on the training received by the participants in the course of their involvement, so that they are empowered to go on to formal employment, or to setting up their own SMMEs or cooperatives. We are also putting greater emphasis on community participation in and ownership of the programmes.

Furthermore, we want to see improved coordination and far better integration between Public Employment Programmes within and across different sectors. That is the reason why we have approved the Presidential Public Employment Inter-Ministerial Committee. 

In designing, planning and implementing Public Employment Programmes, there must be coordination, there must be integration, there must be synergy, there must be cooperation, and there must be coherence, between all spheres of government, between departments, between public bodies, between programmes and within them, between projects and within them.
 
Ladies and gentlemen

We are today, here in Keiskammahoek, launching EPWP Phase 3. This Keiskammahoek Community Work Programme is doing wonderful things. 

With government funding, and working closely with the local implementing agency, the non-profit organisation, Siyakholwa, villages here have organised themselves into 37 Village Committees.
It is the village communities themselves that do household profiles, they identify location needs, they put up plans on how to get what is needed.

This is a shining example of how it is possible for government and NGOs to work closely together to achieve development.

It is a wonderful example of communities on the ground taking responsibility for ensuring sustainable livelihoods for themselves.

Through these Community Work Programmes, local villages are working together, and not just waiting for government to deliver.

Participants in the programmes are involved in food gardens that provide meals for the local school feeding programmes. Through these public employment programmes, home based care for the elderly and ill is being provided. Workers on the programme have rehabilitated school buildings and mended school desks.

Participants have built bridges, and have received training through Siyakholwa in computer skills, welding, compost making, and much more. All of this is a wonderful example of the value of people-centred and people-driven development.

Apha kuQoboqobo nibonisa abantu kuMzantsi Afrika wonke ukuba kuninzi abantu abakwaziyo ukwenza xa behlangene, bemanyene, beyimbumba.

Inga zonke iindawo zingakubuka okukuhle kangaka nikwenzayo zize zizeke mzekweni.
URhulumente uyakusoloko ekhona ethe gqolo ukubancedisa abantu abakhutheleyo.

Sifuna ke niyibambe ngoluhlobo niqhubeka niziphucula nina, niphucula nendawo enihlala kuyo, kwelethu icala singurhulumente asiyikudinwa ukubambisana nokusebenzisana nani.

Njengokuba imininzi kangaka imiceli-mngeni kodwa akukho mceli-mngeni onokusoyisa xa sihlangene, simanyene, siyimbumba, sisebenzisana sonke.

Intle kakhulu le nto niyenzayo yokwakha amanqwanqwa ezophuhliso aqala phaya ezilalini onyuke njalo, ejongana nezidingo zelali nganye, ejongana neemfuno zendawo nganye, ejongana nokuba ngabaphina abantu abangaphangeliyo, yeyiphina imizi elala ikati eziko.

La manqwanqwa (Village Committees) enithe nawamisela abuye ajonge ukuthi ncedo lunina abantu bezilali, abangalunika ekuphuhliseni ukuhlala, beziphuhlisa nabo, ngokuthi nabo bafumane izakhono eziluncedo.

Sithi ke ngoko halala kuni bantu baku-Qoboqobo, ngokuthi nisibonise ukuthi sisonke sihlangene, simanyene, sibambene kuninzi kakhulu esingakwenza kuphumelele. IiVillage Committees ezi nizakhilelo kwilali nganye apha zenza umsebenzi omhle kakhulu. Siyayikhuthaza iRefence Committee ukuthi ixhome umgangatho.

Indlala, ubuhlwempu, intswela-misebenzi zizathi shu zingaphekwenga. Zizathi wukhomba umzi onotywala xa sisebenza ngoluhlobo. Thina singurhulumente singakwicala lenu.

Sokuphumelela sisonke, sibanye, sisebenzisana.

EPWP Phase 3 is here to provide work opportunities and income support to the poor and unemployed.

This programme will be taken to all corners of our country.

We are determined to reach as many people as possible, and to achieve the goal of six million work opportunities.

Together let us move South Africa forward

I thank you.