Keynote address by MEC Gaoage Oageng Molapisi at the occasion of the Departmental EPWP Summit, The Pearl Guest House - Klerkdorp. date: 23 June 2023...

          Programme Director
          Members of the Executive Council (MECs)
          District Executive Mayor of Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality, Cllr Nikiwe Num
          District Mayors for District Municipalities,
          Executive Mayors and Mayors of Local Municipalities
          Members of Mayoral Committees (MMCs)
          Deputy Director General – National Department of Public Works and Roads, responsible for EPWP, Ms Carmen-Joy Abrahams
          Head of Department (HOD), Mr Moses Kgantsi
          Senior Management and Staff of the Department
          Municipal Managers present
          Distinguished Guests
          Members of the Media
          Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today marks the second and final day of our inaugural EPWP summit in the North West Province. Last night we held an awards ceremony to celebrate best performing departments and institutions in the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

We awarded the following awards across three different categories namely,

Category A

1. Infrastructure Sector: Winner – Department of Public Works and Roads
2. Social Sector: Winner – Department of Health
3. Environmental and Culture Sector : Winner- Department of Agriculture and Rural Development

Category B

1. Best Performing Provincial Department: Winner - Department of Health
2. Best Performing District Municipality: Winner- Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality
3. Best Performing Local Municipality: JB Marks Local Municipality

Category C:

1. Best Innovative Project: Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District

Category D:

1. Overall Winner: Department of Public Works and Roads

The awards serve as an encouragement to the departments both provincial and local, including other institutions to strive to achieve set targets for EPWP. I send my sincere congratulatory message to all the winner and encourage other entities to work on improving and achieving their targets.

Programme Director, last night I promised to give a break down according to sector achievement and also highlight the type of training received by our participants:

PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS
• Provincial Departments target for creation of work opportunities was 25 926 broken into sectors as follows.
• Infrastructure Sector: 14 698 (Routine Roads Maintenance)
• Environment and Culture Sector: 2 074 (Working on waste, Agricultural support)
• Social Sector: 9 154 (Early Childhood Development, Child minders)

MUNICIPALITIES
• Municipal target for creation of work opportunities was eight thousand and sixty-seven (8 067) broken into sectors as follows.
• Infrastructure Sector: two-thousand two hundred and eighty-two (2 282) on Water and sanitation, Roads and storm water)
• Environment and Culture Sector: four-thousand eight-hundred and ninety (4 890) on Crop production, Working on waste; and Youth environmental service)
• Social Sector: eight-hundred and ninety-five (895) on Community Policing

At the occasion of the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Budget Vote for 2023/24 financial year, Minster Sihle Zikalala maintained that “An estimated 86 per cent or R23.5 billion of the main vote’s total budget over the next 3 years is allocated to transfers and subsidies for the operations of its entities, and for conditional grants to provinces and municipalities to implement the Expanded Public Works Programme. The remaining balance of 14 per cent or R4 billion is earmarked for spending on compensation and goods and services to support the achievement of these priorities by the Department.”

As mentioned above, the Ministry will spend main vote allocation in the EPWP for the following sectors: • R1.2 billion in the Infrastructure Sector, through the Integrated Grant Incentives for Provinces and Municipalities. • R1 billion for the Non-State Sector Programme implemented through the Independent Development Trust • R426 million for the Social Sector EPWP Integrated Grant for Provinces.

We must collective work together to take advantage of the commitment by the Ministry. It is this context that a summit is convened under the theme “Fostering collaborations and partnerships for successful implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)”. We are alive to the fact that the tenure of the current cohort ends soon and new recruits await. Through the Directorate, plans are well underway to ensure that there is a proper exit strategy for those exiting. I have also made a commitment that this year the EPWP programme will accommodate a total of 15 000 new participants.

Coming back into the Province, when I delivered our Departmental Budget Speech for the 2023/2024 financial year, I made an undertaking that “We will ensure better coordination of EPWP activities with regards to recruitment process of new beneficiaries, as well as accurate reporting on the number of job opportunities in the EPWP sector by other governments departments and municipalities”. I also mentioned that because we understand the impact of the programme in the lives of people in general, and youth in particular; took a decision to upgrade the Directorate of Community Based Programme, by introducing the position for a Chief Director for the Directorate.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as we go into our commission; let us deliberate with an understanding that the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is amongst the most important government interventions. We must do our part to make it work.

I wish you well in your deliberations in this Summit.



Thank you.

 Ends

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