In the context of South African poverty and unemployment, the government implemented various poverty alleviation programmes with the aim of lifting the poorest people out of their worst situation. This research evaluated the EPWP infrastructure sector in Tshwane in trying to understand its effectiveness, sustainability and relevance as a poverty alleviation tool. The study applied a quantitative approach with interspersed with that of qualitative research for statistical information as well as in-depth insight from experts in the field. Data collection was done through document analysis of reports, published papers and structured interviews with experts within the EPWP. The findings revealed that the EPWP is managing to partially meet its objectives; however, it has also shown that the question of its sustainability is still a concern as it only serves limited long term needs. It has shown that its policies replicate that of international practices; however, the implementation part is still a challenge that needs to be addressed. The recommendations were also made to contribute towards the improvement of the infrastructure.

Despite the existence of enabling governmental policies, programmes and legislation, such as the Construction Regulations gazetted in 2003, Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act No. 5 of 2000, Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 83 of 1993, the White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service (WPTPS) of 1997, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act No. 108 of 1996 and the Batho Pele principles, the NDPW is still perceived to be unable to improve on its service delivery record. The aim of this research was to examine the improvement of effective service delivery by the NDPW, the efficiency of government policies, legislation and programmes to address service delivery, and whether the NDPW is in actual fact rendering poor service delivery. A quantitative approach has been implemented in this research; a questionnaire was designed to acquire primary, factual and attitudinal data from NDPW employees; and the secondary data were acquired through a survey of the literature. The results revealed that the NDPW has not yet achieved service delivery improvement. This inadequacy may be attributed to employees’ poor involvement and legislation that has not yet positively impacted on the NDPW service delivery. Here the problem would appear to be a lack of training and education on service delivery. Despite existing policies, programmes and legislation, the NDPW has to date been unable to deliver its services effectively and efficiently. Apparently, their staff is not fully involved in the implementation of such service delivery. The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service of 1997 encourages poverty-alleviation programmes that are difficult in practice to implement.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the efficacy of EPWP employment in enhancing workers’ subsequent employability once they exit these programmes. The study also examined the conditions of EPWP employment to glean evidence about whether or not jobs offered in these programmes are distinguishable from other forms of casual employment preponderant within the South African labour market. Through the use of structured interviews complemented by individual diaries conducted with thirty-two former participants of the Modimola Integrated EPWP in the North West province this study reveals that public works employment is not distinguishable from other forms of “precarious” employment when evaluated against the general indicators of labour market security, minimum wages and benefits, working time, training, and union representation, inter alia. Contrary to the documented policy expectation that EPWP employment will enhance workers’ skills and labour market exposure and thereby improve their subsequent labour market performance, this study reveals that public works employment was not successful in enhancing participants’ access to other employment opportunities. This study found a broad unemployment level of 97% amongst former participants of the Modimola EPWP almost five years after they went through the programme’s training component. The principal reason given by all the respondents was overwhelmingly lack of employment opportunities that required a recipe of skills they had acquired during participation in this programme.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Public Policy (MMPP), September 2016 / The high rate of unemployment and poverty in South Africa remains a daunting challenge, which continues to impact on the lives of millions of people who have limited education and lack skills, particularly those in the marginalised and rural communities who have no access to income generation. Gauteng Province due to in-migration is no exception to these challenges. In an effort to address these challenges the government has adopted the EPWP programme, which is a nationwide government-led initiative, with the aim of reducing unemployment by ensuring that the unskilled gain skills so that they are able to gain access to labour market and consequently earn an income (EPWP Five-year report, 2004/5-2008/9). The five-year report states that the programme set the target of achieving approximately one (1) million temporary work opportunities, for people, of whom 40% will be women, 30% youth and 2% will constitute of people with disabilities. This programme hoped to mitigate some of the social exclusion that the society is faced with and contribute to poverty alleviation, through the creation of short-and medium-term jobs for the unskilled and unemployed. Phase 1 EPWP programme has not yielded the significant results it was intended to, particularly the reduction of unemployment, which has remained high. It should be noted that this programme created a great many expectations, in so far as it relates to maximising the spread and skilling of all intended beneficiaries, needed to gain access into the mainstream economy. The five-year report (2004/5-2008/9) identifies four sectors which are critical or have potential for creating employment opportunities within the context of the EPWP. These are described as follows: ii  The infrastructure sector, which focuses on increasing labour intensity for government-funded infrastructure projects;  Environment, which relates to public environmental improvement programmes  The social sector, which relates to public social programmes such as community-based care programmes; and  The non-state sector, which provides and creates work opportunities through collaboration with non-state organisations, as well as strengthening community participation through small enterprise learnership and incubation programmes / GR2018

Thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Management (in the field of Public Sector Monitoring and Evaluation) to the Faculty of Commerce, Law, and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / 22 years into the democracy, South Africa is still struggling with unemployment. Issues such as poor education outcomes, high disease burden, uneven public service performance, corruption and others have been listed amongst issues the country is facing however; poverty and inequality have been identified as the two main challenges facing the country (The National planning commission, 2012). This research attempted to understand unemployment and how the EPWP addresses the unemployment issues at a local level. The EPWP intends to provide temporary employment and provide training to its beneficiaries through skills programmes, learnership and artisan development. The skills and training provided intend to enhance the beneficiaries’ chances of being employable on other projects after exiting the EPWP (EPWP, 2016) Between 1994 and 2014 white labour force has increased with 9 percent, Indian/Asian labour force increased with 45 percent, 5 percent increase of coloured work force and a 95 percent hike of black African labour force (Stats SA, 2014). According to the National planning commission (2012) South Africa has made a remarkable transition from apartheid into democracy. The high growth experienced by the black African ethnic group has been attributed to the number of interventions implemented by the government to eradicate inequality such as Affirmative Action Act (AA). From the stats provided, one is able to deduce that the government has been able to make progress in terms of decreasing inequality and therefore needs to develop employment creation strategies to address unemployment. The literature review conducted in this study indicates a link between unemployment, economic growth, apartheid and skills development. Apartheid has not been pursued as an attribute as strategies to overcome it have become pre-eminent. This research utilised the qualitative strategy and cross-sectional research design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with interview schedule as a guiding tool for basic questions, the researcher asked further questions when required to do so. / XL2018

Thesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005 / The study investigates the effectiveness of the Public Works Affirmative Procurement Policy in the Republic of South Africa, and the research being conducted in the Western Province. It is the intention of the researcher to determine the role of the public sector, and to determine if government's efforts to implement the policy of procurement have been successful. The aim of the Affirmative Procurement Policy was primarily to promote Affirmable Business Enterprises (ABE's i.e. small medium and micro enterprises which is owned mainly by previously disadvantaged communities or PDI's). The need to transform the public sector procurement system as current policies and procedures clearly favour large and established enterprises. In 1996 the State Tender Board approved the decision that the Department of Public Works implement the policy of APP, in all its construction projects. International models of procurement were explored, so to compare that with the current South African situation. Surveys conducted throughout the research targeted mainly previously disadvantaged individuals, in order to establish the ambiguity of the system. The countries discriminatory past laws contributed largely to the backlog of service delivery and to widespread impoverishment. Due to lack of resources, finance and skills training growth in the emerging sector hinders progress as contractors encounter numerous problems facing the industry. The introduction of the lO-point plan approved by Cabinet as a measure to achieve this goal was not fully successful as some provinces only implemented it partially whilst others have systems in place that differ from the proposal detailed in the plan. The implementation of affrrrnative procurement, which would ensure participation of, targeted groups would consequently address the development of SMME's, increase the volume of work and generate income among the marginalized sector of society.

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has been seen by government as a poverty-alleviation initiative in which many South Africans receive training and temporary employment that assist them in enhancing their employability. This has been seen in many rural communities as assisting with development of the community. It has been emphasize that this programme boosts the local economy while at the same time providing much needed financial support to those that are faced with lack of community development and unemployment. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the programme on community upliftment, with particular reference to community perceptions of the programme and training that is offered within the programme itself. Challenges with the implementation and execution of the programme were explored, in order to develop recommendations that will enhance the effectiveness of the programme within the local municipality. The literature study included interviews with key informants involved directly with the programme in the local municipality. A descriptive research approach within a qualitative paradigm was adopted for the study. Data was collected mainly from secondary sources. The findings of the study indicate that the Expanded Public Works Programme is the main source of employment within the local municipality, benefiting not only the beneficiaries involved in the programme, but also the community as a whole. The beneficiaries in the local area are able to sustain their needs through participating in the programme, and the community becomes safer and cleaner, with income being brought into families by participants in the programme. However, the local municipality is not achieving its set targets, and there is evidence of a lack of skills development and misuse of the beneficiaries by the local municipality officials, which is causing the programme to be ineffective.

Thesis (MDev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2007 / Refer to document

Some of the problems experienced with regard to community participation in the Community Based Public Works Program in its first phase(from 1994to 1997) included: participatory processes were determined externally; there was uncertainty of roles and responsibilities; there was lack of clarity on the decision-making process which caused conflict. there were constraints in terms of sufficient resources, capacity and information; there was a lack of clear definition of rights and processes to address concerns raised in the participation process; unequal power relationships effected the negotiation process; and there was a lack of ongoing participatory monitoring and evaluation. Participation also had significant costs which went beyond financial in terms of time and the costs of changing attitudes and traditional ways of working. These were some of the conclusions of this dissertation which is a critical analysis of the nature and extent of the community participation process in public works programmes in South Africa. The Community Based Public Works Program (CBPWP) a post apartheid. government-funded programme that targeted "the poorest of the poor" and used labour intensive construction methods and community labour in the building of infrastructure was used as a case study to conduct this critical analysis. The aims of the CBPWP were to address infrastructure shortages, create jobs, provide training and build the capacity of communities to contribute to the development process. This dissertation includes a review of literature and theory of community participation, which finds that: participation needs to be considered in the context of its relationship with the internal development process; successful participation depends so much on the adequate provision of information, access to resources and understanding of local level dynamics; and that participation can be both a means (to improve project performance) and an end (to empower communities to participate in their own development); that it is not without costs and that the nature and type of community participation varies from purely information sharing, through consultation, decision-making and the initiation of action. This report also includes a background to public works programmes and their context internationally and locally. Public works programmes are multi-purpose and range from strategic, long-term economic interventions to emergency relief programmes. They are essentially instruments through which public spending can be directed towards the poor and range from community-based, labour-intensive infrastructure building programmes to programmes to address natural resource management goals. In post-apartheid context of South Africa in the 1990s they are intrinsically tied to transformation and reconstruction and incorporate objectives ofthe empowerment ofcommunities in the development process and the transformation of development institutions and top-down development processes. Many of these programmes in South Africa including the CBPWP recognise community participation in particular as an essential component of meeting their objectives. This dissertation builds a profile of community level stakeholders in the CBPWP and examines how these stakeholders interact with the CBPWP at each stage ofa typical project. Data from two broad evaluations ofthe CBPWP (conducted by (i) CASE and the ILO and (ii) by SALDRU and described in Chapter 5 of this report) is interrogated to do this. Research findings are then analysed (according to key research questions outlined in Section 1.5) and summarised in terms of: how communities participate in the CBPWP; what their incentives for participation are; whether they are provided with sufficient information and resources to participate effectively; who takes responsibility for ongoing community participation; a cost benefit analysis of participation for the various stakeholders; how participation should be measured and, finally, identifies important issues which need to be considered in the design, implementation and monitoring of community participation processes in development programmes. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

This study seeks to investigate the extent to which the Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) creates jobs in East London. The researcher‘s interest in the topic was aroused after having noticed that there is cleanliness in Duncan village compared with the past. This cleanliness was as a result of the introduction of EPWP projects, where a number of people, both males and females were employed and job opportunities were created. The esearcher, as a development studies student, appreciates the intervention made by the EPWP in the area, therefore the researcher is interested to investigate the program better in order to determine the extent in which the EPWP creates jobs. The study was conducted in Duncan village, East London, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM). The area was chosen because it is one of the most densely populated disadvantaged communities with a high rate of unemployment and poverty. The study focuses on 50 currently employed EPWP employees working in the Duncan village area. The researcher adopted a quantitative approach in order to explore and describe the extent in which EPWP projects create jobs in East London, in particular in the Duncan village area. Structured questionnaires are used to collect data from the EPWP employees. The participants‘ responses are collated in an excel spread sheet and analysed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Respondents‘ responses are analysed and discussed in terms of graphs and tables. The findings of this study reveal that there is a lack of skills development programs from projects operating in the area. This is shown by a percentage of 66% from the sampled respondents who indicate that they have acquired no skills since the inception of the project. The findings of the study also reveal that job opportunities are generated but are not adequate considering the population in the area. Income received is not enough for basic needs satisfaction as the largest percentage (82%) of them are still staying in shack dwellings and earning an income of less than R1000 per month. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Public Works department in collaboration with all major stakeholders have to plan and organise workshops and training sessions for all EPWP employees together with their supervisors. The objective of the workshops will be to inform all employees about how the project works as well as its main objectives. This will enable employees to decide well in advance whether to take an offer or not. This will also minimise grievances from employees. Furthermore, there should be sound and effective programs in each EPWP project that address skills development. Outsourcing the skills development program could have positive consequences and employees should be motivated through certificates awarded after the project completion. There is also a need for learnership programmes as indicated by the findings because of the low levels of education and skills.