Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management is proud to announce that the City will soon be launching the Public Employment Programme, giving thousands of people dignity with new job opportunities.
Under the project, R160 million in funding will go towards the City’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to employ just under 4 000 people for public service-related employment such as fire and safety marshals for informal settlements, public facilities’ maintenance, area cleaning and alien vegetation clearing.
The programme will prioritise members of our community who have been the worst affected by the unemployment crisis such as youth, women, and persons with disabilities.
In this way, we will address pressing social needs, while cutting the queue of people desperate for work, a line made significantly longer by the pandemic and related lockdown.
The launch follows the successful submission by the City to receive funding under National Government’s Public Employment Programme, which was announced last year. The City’s Enterprise and Investment department as part of its job-creating mandate will, along with the EPWP office, help to coordinate all these projects across a range of different City departments and ensure that maximum benefit is derived for the City and the participants in this much-needed programme.
This programme has come at a particularly crucial moment as South Africa faces the daunting prospect of reducing its highest unemployment rate on record.
Not only will this build on the work of existing EPWP projects, it will also add to several other successful initiatives by the City to boost jobs.
The City’s ongoing support and funding for its high growth industry Special Business Partners (SBPs) over the past three years, has created more than 21 500 jobs and trained over 7 600 people in work readiness. Meanwhile, R20,5 billion has been reaped in the form of commercial investments, creating more employment and growth opportunities.
With our Jobs Connect Workforce Development Programme launched earlier this year, we aim to fulfil two distinct purposes: to link businesses to the appropriate talent, and to provide knowledge, training and employment opportunities to job seekers. Under this initiative, over 55 000 people have been registered and assessed, 15 087 trained in work readiness, and almost 5 400 people have been placed in jobs since December 2017.
I know that for many Capetonians right now, the various crises, such as the state of our economy or worries about how they can keep putting food on the table, is causing sleepless nights. This is why the approval of this programme is so important to me.
Because behind all the statistics and the surveys are people. With every job, and every opportunity is a person whose livelihood and confidence is restored. So while things may feel dire, know that we are implementing the tools to rebuild and recover.
Interested applicants of the Public Employment Programme will simply need to register their details on the City’s EPWP database. To register on the database, go to your nearest subcouncil office (Civic Centre) with your ID or valid South African work permit.
Find your local sub council https://bit.ly/3lHnkUb