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THE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

18 NOVEMBER 2003

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BACKGROUND

ANC policy conference Stellebosch 2002

President’s State of the Nation Address February 2003

Growth and Development Summit June 2003

Cabinet approved conceptual framework November 2003

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DEFINITION

Nation-wide programme which will draw significant numbers of the unemployed into productive work, so that workers gain skills while they work, and increase their capacity

to earn an income

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OBJECTIVE

To utilise public sector budgets to reduce and alleviate unemployment

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This will be achieved by:

Creating productive employment opportunities:

Increasing the labour intensity of government-funded infrastructure projects

Creating work opportunities in public environmental programmes (eg Working for Water)

Creating work opportunities in public social programmes (eg community health workers)

Utilising general government expenditure on goods and services to provide the work experience component of small enterprise learnership / incubation programmes

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Enhancing the ability of workers to earn an income, either through the labour market or through entrepreneurial activity

Provide unemployed people with work experience

Provide education and skills development programmes to the workers

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(not mutually exclusive)

Reduce poverty bythe alleviation/reduction of

unemployment

Government Strategies

Utilise governmentexpenditure to

alleviate and reduceunemployment

Balanceeconomicgrowth with

growth in EAP

Govt. budget/procurement

RegulationEducation

policyMacro-economic

policies

Short/medium-term

Improveenabling

environment

Interventiontype

Improveeducation

sytem

Medium/longterm

Long-termMedium/long

termImpacttimescale

(EAP = economically active population)

Improve socialsecurity net

Govt. socialwelfare budget

Short/medium-term

Expanded PublicWorks

ProgrammeGoal

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SCOPE

Covers all spheres of government and SOE’s

Each public body must formulate plans for utilising its budget to draw significant numbers of the unemployed into productive work, and to provide them with training

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TARGETS

Target the unemployed and marginalised

To provide one million employment opportunities with training to unemployed people, within the first five years of the programme

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INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

Overall coordination by EPWP unit in DPW

DG’s Steering Committee

Sector coordinating Dept’s: DEAT, DTI, DSD

Link to NEDLAC Public Works committee

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WORK OPPORTUNITIES

Need to be careful to avoid displacement of existing workers and SMME’s by workers on EPWP programmes

Employment conditions during work experience will be governed by the following frameworks gazetted by DOL:

Code of Good Practice for Special Public Works Programmes, or

Learnership Determination for unemployed learners

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Key aspects of the EPWP employment conditions frameworks:

Gazetted after negotiations at NEDLAC

Allow for special conditions of employment to facilitate greater employment on Public Works Programmes:

Employers may set rates of pay locally at self-targeting rates, to avoid attracting workers away from more permanent employment

Reduced obligations for employers, eg no UIF insurance payments

Task-based payment for labour-intensive works

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These special conditions of employment are on condition that:

Workers have an entitlement to training

The duration of employment of a worker under these special conditions is limited

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TRAINING

Exit strategies to be developed for each sector:

Identify possible exit routes for beneficiaries, eg into longer-term employment, self-employment, or further training

Exit strategies should inform the training provided to beneficiaries under the programme:

In some sectors, training provided may be unrelated to work being carried out

Training related to exit strategies for longer-term income opportunities and further education and training should be focused on the youth

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Examples of possible exit strategies

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

YEAR

Unemployed enter EPWP and obtain work experience and training, under special conditions of employment

Exit EPWP with work experience and training after max 2 years

Examples of exit strategies

- Further education and training

- Self employment

- Ongoing employment with same employer, at normal conditions of employment

- Better equipped work seeker

- Employment with a new employer

EPWP

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INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMMES Plan in place for provincial and municipal

infrastructure:

Large-scale programme of labour-intensive upgrading and maintenance of rural roads and municipal infrastructure

Targets types of civils infrastructure most amenable to use of labour-intensive methods, where large numbers of additional work opportunities can be created

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At least R15 bn will be spent on labour-intensive upgrading of rural and municipal roads and municipal pipelines, stormwater drains, and sidewalks over the next five years

Aim to create work opportunities for 750 000 targeted unemployed people (250 000 person-years of employment)

Will build 37 000 km of roads, 31 000 km of pipelines, 1500 km of stormwater drains, 150 km of urban sidewalks

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Implementation of the labour-intensive provincial and municipal infrastructure programme Additional conditionalities will be attached to the

conditional provincial and municipal infrastructure grants

Total conditional infrastructure grants over next five years = R45 bn (targeting 1/3 of this)

Total public sector infrastructure spend over next five years > R150 bn (targeting 10% of this)

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Conditionalities on the infrastructure grants will require provinces and municipalities to:

Allocate an increasing proportion of targeted infrastructure projects as labour-intensive projects over time

Use PWD guidelines for identifying, designing, and producing tender documentation for labour-intensive projects

Apply eligibility requirements for appointment of contractors and engineers on labour intensive projects (they must be qualified in the use of labour intensive methods)

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Public Works will provide support to provinces and municipalities to simplify implementation

Change to labour-intensive production techniques requires capacity building in the construction industry:

DPW putting in place NQF unit standards, qualifications, and accredited training programmes for contractors and engineers for labour-intensive construction

DPW will inform the industry of eligibility requirements for appointment

Pace of change to labour-intensive methods will be linked to pace of capacity building, to ensure that quality is not sacrificed

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Training:

All 750 000 workers will obtain training funded by the Department of Labour

CETA-funded learnerships for 500 emerging contractors in labour-intensive construction

Learner contractors will receive classroom and on-site training, exit from the programme with qualifications, experience, and credit record

Graduate contractors will tender for ongoing labour-intensive projects issued by government

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Other infrastructure programmes with potential (plans still to be developed), eg maintenance of government buildings, trenching in the electrification programme

Aim to create a further 150 000 work opportunities (50 000 person-years) for targeted unemployed people from other infrastructure programmes over the next five years

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ENVIRONMENTAL AND CULTURAL PROGRAMMES

Includes:

DOA Land Care programme

DEAT People and Parks, Coastal Care, Sustainable Land-based Livelihoods, Cleaning up SA, Growing a Tourism Economy programmes

DWAF Working for Water, Wetlands, Fire programmes

DAC programmes

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Aim to create work opportunities for 200 000 targeted unemployed people over the next five years (200 000 person-years of employment)

Aim to create 400 sustainable SMME’s

Physical outputs over next five years have been quantified, eg

control invasion of alien plants on 1 million hectares of land

improve 1200 km of coastline

Scope for further expansion, eg waste management

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SOCIAL PROGRAMMES

DSD to produce sector plan

Initial focus of social sector initiatives:

Home-based care workers - Community Health Workers (DOH) and Community-based Care and Support Workers (DSD)

Early childhood development (ECD) workers (DOE and DSD)

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NGO’s and CBO’s to be main delivery agents of social sector programmes, funded by government and possibly business

All social sector programmes involve recruitment of unemployed people, providing them with on-the-job experience, a stipend and training for a period, leading to NQF qualifications and possible longer-term income opportunities

More work needs to be done on common delivery models

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ECONOMIC PROGRAMMES

DTI to produce sector plan

Examples of possible economic sector initiatives:

Community production centres (DoA)

Community-based / cooperative income generating projects (GDS) (possible funding from business)

Enterprise ‘incubator’ / learnership programmes (DOL, DTI)

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Micro-enterprise incubation / venture learnerships:

Selection of learners from amongst the unemployed, using open and transparent process with predetermined selection criteria

Registration on full-time SETA-funded learnerships

Classroom training funded by SETA’s

Practical work experience (departments allocate learning contracts to the learners, using general government expenditure on goods and services)

Mentoring (possible assistance from Business)

Access to micro-finance (possible assistance from Business)

Graduate with NQF qualification, experience and credit track record

Target: 3000 learnerships over 5 years, 3 employees per learner

SUMMARY OVER FIRST FIVE YEARS

Sector Work opportunities Person-years Infrastructure 900 000 (four months

average duration) 300 000

Environmental and cultural

200 000 (one year average duration)

200 000

Social (excluding home-based care)

20 000 (average two years duration)

40 000

Economic 3000 venture learnerships (18 months duration) 9000 employees

18 000

Totals 1 million plus 500 000 plus

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FUNDING

SECTOR ALLOCATIONS TO EPWP PROGRAMMESS 2004/5 – 2008/9

Infrastructure R15 billion Environmental and cultural

R 4 billion

Social R 600 million Economic Still to be determined

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ROLES OF BUSINESS, LABOUR, NGO’s, CBO’s Role of Business:

Participate in NEDLAC advisory body

Assist with the development of exit strategies and appropriate training

Business Trust to play a role

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Role of Labour:

Participate in advisory body

Inputs into overall programme policies, exit strategy, training and qualifications frameworks

Support EPWP programmes and projects

Role of CBOs, NGOs, and experts:

CBO’s involved in project prioritisation and selection of workers on infrastructure projects

Management of social sector projects

Expert (eg academics) involvement in advisory body

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PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAMES

Complete remaining aspects of all sectoral plans: February 2004

Implementation has started on parts of sectoral plans which are ready:

Preparations for labour-intensive infrastructure programmes are under way, some programmes are running, expansion from April 2004

Environmental programmes are running

END