Certificates have been handed out to a group of people who participated in a three-month course run by the City under the Extended Public Works Programme.

MMC for housing, Strike Ralegoma congratulates one of the graduates, Christian Eckersley (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

ABOUT 72 students from disadvantaged communities were awarded certificates and tool kits by the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) for participating in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) at a ceremony held at the Pyramid Conference Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday, 26 June

The EPWP is a national government programme aimed at creating temporary work for the unemployed and ensuring that they gain skills. The fundamental strategy is to increase economic growth so that the number of new jobs being created starts to exceed the number of new entrants into the labour market.

The three-month programme undertaken by the participants was funded by the Department of Labour. It covered topics such as brick laying, carpentry and concrete making. Wearing bright orange outfits, the students leapt up with joy after receiving their certificates.

In his address at the ceremony, the mayoral committee member for housing, Strike Ralegoma, encouraged the City of Johannesburg to re-affirm its commitment to redress poverty and inequality in partnership with the participants.

"Our attack on poverty must seek to empower people to take themselves out of poverty, while creating adequate social nets to protect the most vulnerable in our society," he said.

Fundiswa Masiza is one of the beneficiaries who completed the course (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

The EPWP is in its fourth year and is applied across all City entities, companies and departments. It is driven by specially appointed EPWP champions in each sector, and all sectors are required to target the unskilled and unemployed through labour intensive projects.

"Since 1994 we have made substantial progress in transforming the economy to benefit the majority, bur serious challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality remain," Ralegoma said.

The deputy director for the City's EPWP, Lulama Ndlovu, said the programme reflected the commitment made by the South African government to eradicate poverty by creating job opportunities coupled with training that would lead to economic growth for the poor.

"The Expanded Public Works Programme is a national government priority programme that came into being in 2003," Ndlovu said. "Its goal is to create one million job opportunities nationally ... The City will continue to make EPWP the basis of job creation and will ensure that all workers in the programme wear their orange attire with pride."

Sello Motsamai, one of the participants, could not hide his joy at receiving his certificate. "I would like to thank the government for implementing the programme," he said. "Our teachers did a wonderful job in training us."

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