Closing Address by Public Works & Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson at the Launch of the EPWP Listening Tour
Gqeberha, Eastern Cape
 

Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Mayor, Gary van Niekerk
Nelson Mandela Bay Speaker, Eugene Johnson
Ward 34 Councillor, Jonny Arendse
Government officials here today
Members of the media
And most importantly, EPWP recipients and community members

Good afternoon.

Thank you again for welcoming me to Bethelsdorp in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, for the launch of our nationwide Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) listening tour.

Today, we are here to listen to your concerns and inputs as the community and EPWP recipients regarding the programme so we can find solutions to address issues and improve it to ensure it provides opportunities in a fair manner.

I sincerely thank those who have taken the time and effort to join us today and for bravely sharing their challenging experiences and their hopes for the EPWP. I know it could not have been easy.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will visit many more communities like yours in provinces across South Africa to hear your experiences, hold frank discussions, and rethink how the EPWP can be reformed.

As your Minister, I understand that by working together with communities like yours, we can address the biggest challenges facing our society.

The EPWP remains an important tool to instil hope, provide work, and bring dignity and skills development to communities in need. It also plays a crucial role in addressing service delivery challenges, from road maintenance to grass-cutting and, in some places, even library services. The EPWP offers a significant opportunity to improve service delivery in communities that need it most.

However, let me be the first to say—based on what I’ve heard today from community members—that the EPWP has, unfortunately, been subject to abuse by some for jobs-for-pals, corruption, and political patronage.

There are too many allegations in this community alone to allow the status quo to continue.

As many people have courageously shared, South Africans have been let down time and again by a programme meant to benefit them.

How can communities trust a programme intended to empower them when abuse and corruption are widely known?

That is why we must build a better EPWP programme that is safeguarded from such abuses.

The best way we can do this is through transparency in how people are appointed and given an opportunity in the programme. We cannot simply allow people who are friends or hold political party cards to be selected repeatedly for the EPWP.

At the same time, we’ve learned today that the EPWP, designed as a stepping stone to permanent employment, has become a lifeline for survival for many. It was intended to be a short-term mechanism, empowering recipients with skills or experience for employment elsewhere. Yet, due to our country’s dire unemployment situation, many have come to rely on it as their sole source of income.

There are some who would have us believe that because initiatives were started in previous administrations or have been handled a certain way, our job is simply to continue implementing them as they are. Well, they are wrong, and that is not what I will do in Public Works and Infrastructure or in the EPWP.

If something is broken, you must fix it. We are not here to pay homage to inefficiencies or idolise stale ideas. I am here to turn South Africa into a construction site, and we will do that through fresh thinking, new policies, and discarding what doesn’t work.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want people in the EPWP to gain meaningful skills they can use to climb the opportunity ladder and build a long-term future anchored in dignity for their family.

Cutting grass or picking up litter for the rest of your life is not the future you have dreamed of.

Let me be clear: the wages from the EPWP are not sufficient to live on long-term.

We need to reform the programme to ensure that recipients are better-paid through permanent jobs that EPWP can be either a gateway to or in partnership with the private sector.

There is something for us to learn from the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme, where we can leverage the budget allocated for the EPWP to work with the private sector to bring more people into better-paid and well-trained employment opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today, we are beginning the journey to listen to communities’ concerns regarding the EPWP so we can explore solutions for improving it. We are working to change the narrative around the EPWP and restore trust in its ability to make a meaningful difference.

The EPWP remains a vital tool to empower communities across the country. However, it is essential that we begin the conversation on how to reform it to better serve the communities it was designed for. The stories we’ve heard today are too troubling to ignore.

People work hard within the EPWP for minimal compensation, and it’s unacceptable for some to exploit this system. For too long, communities have reported mismanagement, corruption, and unfair practices that have prevented the programme from reaching its full potential.

EPWP recipients deserve to leave the programme better off than when they entered. Based on what we’ve heard today, I am uncertain this is currently the case. It is unjust to expect recipients to clean streets, repair roads, or maintain parks while a few benefit at their expense.

Our vision for EPWP reform includes establishing more transparency in EPWP allocations, free from corruption and political interference.

No one should be denied a job because they aren’t aligned with a particular political party. The EPWP should benefit everyone, irrespective of their language or background.

We aim to create a transparent and accountable programme, where every deserving South African has a fair chance to benefit. We want employers to recognise that EPWP participants are equipped with skills and experience that prepare them for permanent employment.

I also want to track progress in a real-time dashboard on opportunities and funds spent by province, city, and town. This will allow you to see the progress we are making.

We also want to work with the private sector to expand employment opportunities through the EPWP, particularly to empower our youth.

By reforming the programme in this way, we believe the EPWP can play a meaningful role in improving conditions in our communities and, more importantly, making a significant impact on our country’s high unemployment rate.

Training and economic advancement must be a key outcome for each recipient of the EPWP. It must be the stepping stone towards a life of dignity, not a burden that keeps one trapped in poverty for life.

The listening tour we launched today is part of the work I am doing to make this vision a reality.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is time to turn a new page on the EPWP and build it into something communities can be proud of. I look forward to working with the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape to build an EPWP that truly empowers recipients and places them and their families on a better path.

You have my full commitment to addressing the issues raised today, and we will not rest until we have attended to your concerns. The officials from the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure present today know that I will not allow the current state of affairs to persist.

The days of abuse within the EPWP will come to an end. As we begin the work to reform the programme, be assured that the stories shared with us today will guide our efforts to reimagine it.

To those who shared their experiences, thank you for your courage and commitment to a better South Africa. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks and months as we address these issues within the EPWP head-on.

Thank you, Bethelsdorp and Gqeberha, for warmly welcoming us today and for sharing your experiences. I promise that your voices will not go unheard.

Today, I am more motivated than ever to fix the EPWP and build it into a programme that truly benefits all South Africans. As we depart, I assure you that we are committed to building a better EPWP, so we can build a better South Africa.

Now is the time to build South Africa.

Let us go forward and fix the EPWP. Let us build it into a better programme that benefits all South Africans.

Let us build South Africa.

Thank you.