• Public Works & Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson heard in uMngeni, KwaZulu-Natal, how the EPWP programme is open to abuse by politicians and officials.
• The visit to uMngeni formed part of Minister Macpherson's countrywide EPWP listening tour to improve and reform the programme.
• He said he will use the experiences shared during the EPWP listening tour to help him reform the programme to ensure it contributes to building South Africa.

During the next leg of his Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) listening tour in the uMngeni Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, Minister of Public Works & Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, heard how the programme is open to abuse by politicians and officials, while recipients lacked the necessary training required to find permanent employment. The stories from EPWP recipients build on what the Minister heard at the launch of the listening tour in the Eastern Cape last month.

"As Public Works & Infrastructure Minister, I have always maintained that the EPWP programme is an important tool to alleviate poverty in many communities while giving people essential working opportunities. However, the stories of abuse I have now heard both in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are too serious to ignore. This is why we are embarking on this countrywide EPWP listening tour as we work to reform and improve the programme," Minister Macpherson said.

"There are countless stories shared with us in uMngeni of people being excluded simply because they didn't know the right ward councillor and officials, or that jobs were 'sold' in exchange for money or loyalty. There are also stories of abuse where power dynamics were used to exploit women. These stories are simply unacceptable, and these practices need to come to an end."

Minister Macpherson said he will use the experiences of EPWP recipients shared in uMngeni, and those from the Eastern Cape last month, to inform his rethinking of the programme to ensure it becomes a vehicle for skills transfer and a stepping stone towards permanent employment. In the weeks and months ahead, he will take his EPWP Listening Tour to all nine provinces as he listens to communities about the problems faced with EPWP.

"The time has come for us to fix what is broken. We simply cannot continue with programmes over and over again when communities keep complaining about possible abuses. It is imperative that we are humble enough to listen to communities' concerns and work to implement reforms so the programme can help us build a better South Africa. Our communities and EPWP recipients deserve better."

Media enquiries:

James de Villiers                                
Spokesperson to the Minister              
E-mail: James.Devilliers@dpw.gov.za                  
Cell: 082 766 0276                          

Lesego Moretlwe 
Deputy Director Media Relations: PR & Communication EPWP
Cell: 082 957 3677

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