Dept improves minimum wage of EPWP workers
THE DEPARTMENT of Public Works has increased the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) participants’ wage rate from R88 to R92.31 per day from November 1.
Around 380 EPWP workers are currently employed by the Sol Plaatje Municipality in Kimberley at a total cost of R1.4 million a month.
The Department of Public Works said in a statement on Sunday that the increase was an attempt to continue to steadily improve the socio-economic conditions of poor South Africans participating in the programme.
“All public bodies are therefore required to ensure that the wages are adjusted timely in order to comply with the requirements,” the department said.
This revised minimum wage refers to a wage rate per day and per task performed across all EPWP sectors in all spheres of government. The EPWP minimum wage increase annually and in line with the inflation rate, the department said.
“The EPWP is governed by the EPWP Ministerial Determination, which is gazetted by the Minister of Labour, as a deviation from the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, which outlines the working conditions of all EPWP participants who are employed across all EPWP sectors, namely: infrastructure, non-state sector, environment and culture and social sectors,” the department said.
According to the EPWP Ministerial Determination, participants should work for 40 hours per week and they can also work on a task basis and the task sizes are governed by the average productivity of a worker in a day.
The deputy director-general for EPWP, Stanley Henderson, said there was a need for keeping up with the increased minimum wage.
“The increased EPWP minimum wage is compulsory to all the public bodies implementing the EPWP and there will be no excuse that will validate the payment of EPWP participants below the minimum wage and not adhering to the adjusted minimum wage as determined by the EPWP Ministerial Determination,” Henderson said.
He pointed out that the EPWP was a critical government initiative which makes a contribution towards a safety net to millions of South Africans who have socio-economic challenges and have the responsibility to provide for themselves and their families.
The Sol Plaatje Municipality spent R4.76 million in the last financial year on the EPWP budget, while R3.14 million was budget for this year for EPWP incentives.
Yesterday, however, municipal spokesperson Sello Matsie stated that 378 EPWP workers were employed by the municipality at a cost of more than R1.4 million a month.
“They are employed on various projects, including cleaning, as well as in the security section and at Gogga Pump Station and at the Homevale Waste Water Treatment Works.
According to Matsie, EPWP workers employed by the municipality were employed into the local authority as vacancies became available.
The employment of EPWP workers is creating a massive strain on the finances of the municipality, while the project also came under scrutiny in the recent Section 109 investigation report. The report stated that the determination of who should be nominated as EPWP workers by a councillor needed to be reviewed “as this process is open to nepotism and favouritism” by councillors.
It also called for an investigation into the verification of all EPWP workers to eliminate possible ghost employees. It recommended that no remuneration be paid out to those not verified yet.”