DPWI calls for reform of EPWP as unemployment rate remains high

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson says ongoing protest action by hundreds of former Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, shows that the programme needs to be reformed to provide a sustainable pathway to permanent employment. “The EPWP programme was always designed to be a short-term programme to give recipients work experience and training in order for them to find permanent employment. However, due to the stubbornly high unemployment rate in South Africa, many have grown dependent on the programme, having been employed as an EPWP worker for many years.