May 30, 2007
By Lucky Sindane
HARD work and dedication finally paid off for 150 community members in Protea South, in Soweto.
The residents, who attended a two-month long Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) skills development course, received certificates at a graduation ceremony on 29 May at the Protea South Multi-Purpose Centre.
The chief executive officer of the Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco), Rory Gallocher, said: "It is good to see this after weeks of hard work, carrying and laying bricks. I would like to congratulate all the 150 trainees who graduated today.
"We reached a milestone in the Extended Public Works Programme. We have set targets to train people and create job opportunities," he said.
According to Strike Ralegoma, the member of the mayoral committee for housing, the skills development programme was completed in March. It was linked to the Protea South housing development project, which "unfortunately will no longer take place as initially envisaged".
Community members are proud to have completed the course
(Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)
"There is an expectation on the part of the participants that now that they have been trained work opportunities will be created for them. This is a genuine expectation and our duty is to ensure that even if the planned housing project is no longer happening as envisaged … plans are put in place to deal with the challenge to still create work opportunities."
The Department of Public Works, together with Setas (Sector Education and Training Authorities) and the Department of Labour, co-ordinate the training and skills development aspects of the programme.
"EPWP is one of our government's short- to medium-term programmes aimed at the provision and development of skills linked to access to work opportunities … [it works] by drawing significant numbers of our unemployed people into productive work which is directly linked to training programmes," Ralegoma explained.
The programme aimed to increase the ability of people to earn a living once they had completed it.
"It is our responsibility, aimed at bridging the gap between the growing economy and the large numbers of unskilled, unemployed people due to the legacy of the past, which left large portions of our population unskilled and unemployable."
Beneficiaries of the programme are unemployed and from disadvantaged communities. It includes learnerships for emerging contractors.
"I hope that training programmes like these do not end here but more are put in place to ensure that more people get trained and empowered so that they can be absorbed into the economy.
"The City and its agencies, particularly Joshco, must continue to engage these unemployed skilled people and the development forum in order to identify opportunities elsewhere to ensure that they find employment at the end of the day.
"I hope that some of you have already found work or things to do and you are not sitting folding your arms waiting for the government to provide. This is a partnership; we all have to contribute," Ralegoma concluded.
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