By Nosihle Shelembe
Orange Farm – Public Employment Programmes have created more than a million work opportunities in the 2014/15 financial year, says the Presidency.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday chaired the inaugural working meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Public Employment Programmes (PEP-IMC) in Orange Farm, Gauteng.
Before his meeting, Deputy President Ramaphosa and his delegation undertook a walkabout at a skills development centre where computer skills, a community food garden and a clothes bank for families in distress were being implemented.
“I can tell you now that the people that we interfaced with here, did say that this programme contributes hugely in their lives. It has given them dignity and a source of income, it has given them something to do but more importantly it has also given them an opportunity to get a skill,” Deputy President Ramaphosa said.
The PEP-IMC is driving government’s effort to create 6 million work opportunities by 2019 through programmes that create jobs for those who cannot find work and that create public goods in the form of new infrastructure or the improvement of existing infrastructure.
“I’m particularly impressed with the food garden that is being run here. It's being properly run, it produces food for a soup kitchen that feeds up to 500 people every day and quite a number of products that are produced here end up in the homes of a number of people who are either sickly or indigent. That in itself is a valuable community contribution by the people who are working here,” he said.
Deputy President Ramaphosa spoke to a person, who worked in the community food garden. He told the Deputy President that he had gained a skill by learning how to produce food as he knows the types of soils that can produce good food that has nutrition for people.
He commended the City of Johannesburg and its partners, including the Department of Cooperative Governance, on the “very inspiring and exciting work” that he saw at the Orange Farm Skills centre.
“We were impressed by the determination of those working in this project to use this as an opportunity to improve their lives.
“Many see this work not only as a source of income, but as an opportunity to gain experience and skills that can stand them in good stead in the future,” Deputy President Ramaphosa said.
He said the computer learning centre was a huge and iconic area of involvement in the community because it gives lessons to learners and slightly older people during the day.
“Many of those people that we saw are thankful to be given an opportunity by government to participate in this.
“Through this we have great opportunity to contribute to community building, to giving our people job opportunities,” Deputy President Ramaphosa said.
He encouraged all those working in public employment programmes to seize the opportunities that the work provides for developing their skills and capabilities.
“At its Orange Farm meeting, the IMC committed itself to improved coordination of public employment programmes among local, provincial and national structures in order to sustain progress to date on reaching the target of 6 million,” the Presidency said.
The committee also resolved to pay closer attention to the geographic distribution of such programmes, in order to achieve particular impact in provinces such as Limpopo, the North West, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape where youth unemployment is concentrated.
“The IMC will work towards the integration of databases that will enable all partners to know which programmes are in progress in which parts of the country and in which sectors, so that work opportunities can be streamlined and managed in a transparent and productive way,” the Presidency said. – SAnews.gov.za
