EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

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EPWP Progress Report Public Works Select
Committee 23 February 2005
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BACKGROUND

• Wide range of programmes established post-1994
  (eg Zibambele, Zivuseni, W f W, Gundo Lashu)
• Code of Good Practice for Special PWPs gazetted
  in 2002
• Cabinet review of Special Poverty Relief
  Allocation in 2003

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DESIGN OF THE EPWP

• Must allow for wide diversity of programmes
• Expand best-practice existing programmes
• To be sustainable, the EPWP must not be
  make-work must be economically efficient
• Emphasis on labour-intensive delivery of
  cost-effective quality services
• To avoid displacement, the EPWP should take place
  in growing sectors of the economy

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WHAT IS AN EPWP PROJECT?

• Deliberate attempt by the public sector body to
  use its expenditure on goods and services to
  create additional work opportunities for the
  unemployed
• Workers usually employed on a temporary basis
  (either by government, by contractors, or by
  other non-governmental organisations), under EPWP
  or learnership employment conditions
• Workers provided with a combination of work
  experience and training
• Public sector body attempts to define and
  facilitate exit strategies for workers when they
  leave the programme more potential for exit
  strategies in some sectors than others

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FUNDING

• No special fund for EPWP projects
• Emphasis is on changing the way in which normal
  expenditure occurs
• Reduces opportunity costs
• EPWP projects are identified and prioritised
  using standard processes
• Mainstreaming labour intensity
• Government bodies do not get involved in poverty
  relief projects outside their core functional
  areas, BUT
• National programme with highly decentralised
  implementation creates challenges for
  implementation

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Progress to date

• Institutional Structures are in place
• DG Steering Committee
• Sector Coordinating Committees
• EPWP Unit in DPW
• Provincial Steering Committees
• Communication committee with GCIS

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• Training programmes
• Training programme for workers being implemented
  with Dept of Labour funding
• Training of engineers and contractors for labour
  intensive construction, with Construction SETA
  (CETA)
• Training of officials to implement the EPWP, with
  Local Government and Construction SETAs
• Contractor learnership programme with CETA and
  Provinces/ Municipalities
• Learnership programmes for social sector
  programmes with relevant SETAs are being
  finalised
• Venture learnerships for economic sector

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Infrastructure Sector

• Funding for projects is provided via
  infrastructure grants directly to provinces and
  municipalities
• Projects are identified planned and implemented
  by provinces and municipalities in accordance
  with their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs)
• Role of Department of Public Works
• Set the conditions on the grants use EPWP Tender
  and Design Guidelines
• Training programmes for workers, officials,
  contractors, engineers, supervisors
• Lobby infrastructure players to participate
  (provinces, municipalities, water
  authorities,Transnet, Housing, Eskom, etc)
• Support to municipalities and provinces
• Monitor, evaluate and report

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Infrastructure Sector Provinces
Department of Public Works
National Treasury
Support to province
Provinces report indicators
Equitable Share
Province
Other Provincial Expenditure
Provincial Infrastructure Grant earmarked for the
EPWP through the Division of Revenue Act and
Audited by the Auditor General
Infrastructure Budget from Equitable Share
Provincial Infrastructure Budget
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Infrastructure Sector Municipalities
National Treasury
Public Works
Reporting
DPLG
Support to municipality
Rates, Levies and Taxes
Municipality
Other municipal Expenditure
Municipal Infrastructure Grant earmarked for the
EPWP through the Division of Revenue Act and
Audited by the Auditor General
Infrastructure Budget from Rates, levies and Taxes
Municipal Infrastructure Budget
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Significance of EPWP Guidelines

• Use of EPWP Guidelines is a requirement in the
  Division of Revenue Act when MIG or PIG funds
  are used
• Provide guidance and contract conditions for
  municipalities to tender EPWP projects
• Endorsed by SALGA, NT and DBSA
• Makes the use of labour intensive methods a
  contractual obligation of contractors
• Auditor General audits provinces and
  municipalities to assess compliance
• If municipalities and provinces do not use the
  Guidelines, EPWP targets will not be reached

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Use of EPWP Guidelines

• Provinces
• Audit of all provinces done and AG is compiling
  report
• Compliance is poor
• Many provinces are doing some labour intensive
  work already, but EPWP is about intensifying this

• Municipalities
• Audit not yet started
• Compliance expected to be poor for 2004-2005.
  This was compounded by introduction of MIG with
  new procedures

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Labour Intensive Contractor Learnership Programme

• 1 contractor 2 supervisors
• Initial plan was for 500 learnerships
• Due to interest from public bodies was increased
  to 750
• Application to from CETA to DOL-NSF to increase
  the number further to 1500
• Current commitment stands at 950 learnerships and
  increasing, approx 30 provincial departments and
  municipalities participating

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LI CONTRACTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES
IDT
CETA
DPW
DOL
Mentors for training providers
Trainers of trainers
Programme Management support
Community Facilitation Support
Training providers for learnerships
Province / municipality
Mentors for learners
Training projects
Training providers for workers
Learner contractor 2 learner supervisors
Access to credit
ABSA
Unemployed EPWP beneficiaries
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• The learnership takes approximately 2 years, each
  learner contractor employs approx 10 workers
• Learners graduate with NQF qualifications, able
  to tender for LI projects issued in terms of EPWP
  tender and design guidelines
• First group of learners in Ethekwini has
  completed their first project
• Ethekwini, Coega, Klipfontein, Nkangala and
  Mpumalanga learners are on site

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Significance of Labour Intensive Contractor
Learnership Programme

• Aims to develop 500 sustainable contractors and
  1000 highly skilled site supervisors, specialised
  in labour intensive construction
• As part of their learnerships they will implement
  1500 EPWP Projects to the value of R1.5 billion
• During the implementation of these projects they
  will employ approximately 100 000 people
• These 1500 individuals will continue to execute a
  large share of EPWP projects after they complete
  their learnerships, by winning tenders

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Relationships between Provinces and Municipalities

• Varies from Province to Province
• In Limpopo for instance the province has taken
  the lead to mobilise all municipalities to
  participate in the EPWP Contractor learnership
  programme
• However in provinces with large municipalities or
  Metros they act independently
• The Provincial Departments of Local Government
  play a role in implementing the MIG and can
  therefore also put pressure on municipalities to
  implement EPWP through the EPWP Guidelines

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Other infrastructure bodies

• Housing
• Transnet
• Water Boards
• Mining companies

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Training

• Officials
• LGW SETA is funding training of local government
  officials, DPW also carried out training of
  officials

• Consulting Engineers
• Have responded well, with professional bodies
  supporting the initiative. More than 500
  engineers have been trained to date

• Contractors
• Major contractors have not responded well and are
  being engaged through professional bodies
• Emerging contractors are eager but lack funds.
  DOL-NSF-CETA being approached to assist

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Training for beneficiaries

• Training programmes in place and training
  providers appointed

• First training programmes have been implemented
  on some EPWP projects , challenge is to have them
  implemented on all projects

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Infrastructure Five Year Targets

• Provinces
• Total Provincial Infrastructure Grant Approx R
  20 billion
• Targeted expenditure on EPWP projects Approx R
  6.7 billion
• Targeted EPWP Job Creation Approx 335 000
• Municipalities
• Municipal Infrastructure Grant Approx R 25
  billion
• Targeted expenditure on EPWP projects Approx R
  8.3 billion
• Targeted EPWP Job Creation Approx 415 000
• Totals
• EPWP Expenditure R 15 billion
• Job Creation 750 000

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Infrastructure sector challenges

• Many public bodies do not believe they can
  increase the amount of work they do labour
  intensively beyond what they are already doing
• Wide-spread prejudices against the use of
  labour-intensive methods in infrastructure
• Wide-spread implementation of the EPWP tender and
  design guidelines would result in a huge increase
  in employment creation, programme would exceed
  targets

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• Social sector
• Initial focus on ECD and HCBC
• Challenge is to create a framework to enable the
  social sector to grow
• Still largely in planning and preparatory phase
• Agreement on a common system of remuneration
• Improve programme management and reporting
  systems
• Put in place all the required unit standards,
  qualifications and learnerships
• Need convincing motivation for increased funding,
  with implementation models and expansion plans
• Need to mobilise for more rapid expansion
• Most highly labour intensive sector
• High potential for sustainable job creation (200
  000 in ECD)
• Emphasized in 2005 SONA

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Social Sector model
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Environment and Economic Sectors Progress

• Environmental sector performing well
• Challenge is to expand programme into new areas,
  eg waste management at municipal level
• Economic sector
• DTI working on economic sector plan
• DoL and DPW finalising venture learnerships with
  Services SETA
• DPW lobbying government bodies for roll out of
  venture learnerships, based on models such as
  Limpopo Sakhasonke

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Monitoring Results (2nd Quarter)

• Quantitative reports for the first two quarters
  of 2004

Excludes social sector and municipalities due to
absence of reports
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Progress involvement of business

• Business Trust providing support
• Funding of targeted assistance to national
  departments
• Funding of private sector field teams to support
  and assist provinces and municipalities to
  implement their projects in terms of the EPWP

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Challenges (1)

• Many public bodies do not believe they can
  increase the amount of work they do labour
  intensively beyond what they are already doing
• Wide-spread implementation of the EPWP tender and
  design guidelines would result in a huge increase
  in employment creation

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Challenges (2)

• Challenge
• Audits indicate that not all provinces and
  municipalities are complying with the Division of
  Revenue Act conditions requiring that projects be
  tendered as labour intensive projects according
  to the EPWP Guidelines
• Recommendation
• Provincial and municipal political leadership to
  be mobilised to instruct officials to use the
  EPWP guidelines when tendering suitable
  infrastructure projects

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Challenges (3)

• Social sector
• Challenges
• Early Childhood Development (ECD) expansion
  dependent on finalisation of overall ECD policy
• More work required for finalisation of Home and
  Community Based Care (HCBC) enabling framework
• Existing budgets do not accommodate large-scale
  expansion
• Recommendations
• Priority to be given expanding these sectors as
  stated by the President to address basic needs
  and absorb large numbers of less skilled workers

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Conclusions

• Data for the first two quarters of 2004 indicate
  that the EPWP will meet its published targets for
  the year.
• The EPWP will exceed its targets and expectations
  if provinces and municipalities can be mobilised
  to use the EPWP tendering guidelines for suitable
  infrastructure projects, and if there is a large
  scale expansion of ECD and HCBC programmes in the
  social sector.