The programme has created nearly 1 million temporary jobs in South
Africa and proven one of the government’s most successful tools in
fighting poverty, Mdladlana told his counterparts in the 15-nation bloc
at the start of a 5-day Southern African Development Community (SADC)
labour meeting in Cape Town.
Just under half of those jobs went to women and 37% went to young people, he said.
"As we all know SADC has a chronic challenge of high unemployment among
our youth. One of the crucial sectors in the EPWP is the social sector
which has the potential to employ large numbers of people in areas of
home-based care and early childhood development."
Mdladlana said the global crisis has already slowed growth and caused unprecedented job losses in southern African nations.
The South African government has vowed to press on with an ambitious
public works programme despite the crisis and hopes to spend some
R787bn on infrastructure projects in the next 3 years.
Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa has, however, conceded that
the global economic outlook could make reaching that target an uphill
battle.
News24/SAPA
Post published in: Uncategorized