Chris Hani wins award for public works delivery
PUBLIC sector bodies that excelled in the implementation of extended public works programmes (EPWP) were acknowledged at the Kamoso awards ceremony at the Settlers Monument in Grahamstown on Thursday.
Entities competed in 26 categories including infrastructure, social, environmental, culture and a special MEC award.
Speaking at the ceremony, road and public works MEC Thandiswa Marawu said: “The awards serve as the platform to motivate those who are still struggling to implement EPWP, while we know that they harbour noble intentions of being counted amongst those who[se] efforts are for the betterment of our society at large”.
Chris Hani district municipality was the biggest winner.
“The work opportunities created and reported by the Eastern Cape was 101 914 against a target of 99 417. The figure includes contributions from provincial, municipalities and national departments,” Marawu said.
She said the provincial department contributed the highest number of work opportunities, followed by the national and then the local municipalities.
“Halfway through our financial year, the province has reported 115 396 work opportunities. However, there are challenges that the province is facing and I am of the view that there is still room for improvement,” she said.
“The Eastern Cape’s dependency ratio, which measures the ratio of non-working age population to the working age population, remains high across all districts,” she said.
The MEC said social grants were the most common source of survival. “This confirms that the challenge facing the province is big and requires more dedication. The challenges that we are experiencing should not deter us, but be a source of inspiration,” she said.
Marawu said if they were to address the challenges, public employment programmes were the most relevant in the current dispensation.
“We need to appreciate labour intensive methods as a delivery method of choice. Within our competing priorities let EPWP be a compelling priority,” said Marawu. —