Expanded Public Works Programme Research Articles

PARTICIPANTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME TO SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS

Public Employment Programmes (PEPs), which include the South African Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), are widely recognised as important social protection tools that address the challenges of persistent unemployment and dire poverty. PEPs offer a ‘win-win’ policy option by creating jobs while simultaneously generating assets and delivering services. In South Africa, the impact of PEPs has primarily been evaluated based on employment opportunities, thus creating a gap in the comprehensive assessment of their contribution to the broader livelihood of participants beyond job creation. To address this gap, a qualitative research method was employed, utilising a snowball sampling strategy and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework as the theoretical foundation for the investigation. The findings of this study underscore the positive contribution of the EPWP to the livelihoods of its participants. However, the study also uncovered various challenges confronting the programme, such as non-compliance with program regulations, such as payment below minimum wage rates and difficulties in meeting youth employment targets amidst escalating youth unemployment rates in South Africa. The research recommends introducing a national EPWP policy with enforcement mechanisms and youth-focused programmes while strengthening local institutions to provide services and processes to enhance the impact of these programs and create a conducive environment for beneficiaries to improve their livelihoods and escape poverty.

Impact Assessment of Government Funding for Subsistence, Smallholder Farmers, Communities, and Households on Food Security: An Advice for Extension Services

This study examined the impact of government funding on food security for subsistence farming, communities, households, and smallholder farmers in Frances Baard Municipality. Food insecurity has been a global phenomenon that has been on the increase since 2015, and it is thought to be a result of growing conflict, pandemic, and climate-related shocks. The analysis methods employed in this study were mainly cluster and discriminant analysis (DA). Simple random sampling techniques were used to select 533 farmers. The cluster analysis results reveal that Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) occupies the highest rank, followed by a Poverty Relief Programme and Land Restitution programme. In contrast, discriminant analysis (DA) results show that an Agricultural Starter Pack Programme is highly likely to increase the impact of food security in households when other interventions are held constant. The study concludes that to improve the food security of the Frances Baard Municipal District, the government should consistently improve the performance of these programmes. To improve the performance of these programmes, it is therefore recommended that the following programmes be resourced: the Agricultural Starter Pack Programme, Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), Poverty Relief Programme (PRP), and Food Parcel Scheme (FPS).

Public Works as A Safety Net: Evidence and implementation in South African municipalities

This article analyses the coordination processes, challenges, and outcomes of the South African Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) as the social safety net related to poverty and unemployment, drawing on the Cape Town and Mangaung Metropolitan Municipalities case studies. The article draws from a qualitative desktop approach based on an extensive literature review. The study findings reveal similar institutional challenges as a deterrent to the effectiveness of the EPWP in addressing poverty and unemployment. These include political interference, lack of reporting, human resources training, administrative capacity, adequate funding, and the absence of an EPWP structure. To remedy these challenges, South African municipalities should improve monitoring, evaluation, talent management, and foster public-private partnership synergies.

SOUTH AFRICA’S STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN AND YOUTH: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXPANDED PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME MODEL

This paper presents an analysis of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), one of the key South African government policy initiatives that are meant to ease the burden of poverty or unemployment on the poor and unskilled. Historically, such programmes have been used as a relief during short-term crises. Of late, countries have adopted them for long-term structural challenges. In South Africa the programme is meant to protect women and youth. This paper uses a mixed methodology approach to determine the active participation of women and youth in the EPWP and their chances of transitioning into the labour market. The study also solicited the views of the EPWP participants (active and former) and officials to get information which is not captured in the programme’s official reports. The analytical procedure involved document analysis, focusing on EPWP reports from phases One (1) to Three (3) of the programme. The study makes two propositions: the need for public private partnerships to solve the country’s unemployment challenge because independent policies for government or markets are inadequate; a new programme design which separates job seekers from social protection beneficiaries. In its current form, the EPWP is designed as a lower tier poverty trap.

Stakeholder engagement strategies assessment in expanded public works programme

South Africa has evolved and defeated a blemished past of apartheid before 1994. Even after 27 years of democracy, South Africa has been struggling to stabilise economic markets with continued control by the white minority that marginalised the black community. The unemployment rate in the Province of the Eastern Cape in South Africa has grown from 28.5% in 1993 to 45.8% in quarter 3 of 2020 (ECSECC, 2020). Set targets have not been met since 2018, with programmes implemented not attractive nor conducive for the targeted youth and persons with disabilities. The study critically evaluated the existence and the extent of stakeholder management strategies in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) within the Eastern Cape Department of Transport and the effects of not meeting the set youth and persons with disabilities targets over the years. To gain lived experiences of beneficiaries, a case study of the household Contractor Programme was used in three districts through group semi-structured interviews with non-probability purposive sampling used to select respondents using a primary data collection instrument. Data received was analysed with themes using a descriptive analysis approach to narrate the lived experiences of participants within EPWP. Results revealed a need for improved stakeholder diversity and inclusion, communication with stakeholders, management oversight, policy guidance, monitoring and evaluation within EPWP projects.

Editorial note 2020

Introduction
 I believe that all of us have experienced most probably one of the most dramatic situations in modern day work life, namely Covid-19. It has impacted on all spheres of society, from Global, National, organisational and personal levels. This was evident in the recent articles received by AJER, many of them has a broad, or even a direct Covid-19 theme, specifically from an employee relations, leadership and human resource perspective. The AJER wants to provide a forum of learning opportunities, also during these challenging times for all those interested and involved in the management of human resources including practitioners, researchers, academics, trainers and educators as well as to policy makers in the private, public and semi-public sectors of South Africa (SA), Southern Africa, Africa and other countries.
 The direct impact on the journal was also felt, specifically with the availability of reviewers, as well as the slower than usual turnaround time of reviews. It is with this in mind that I want to invite all our readers who are interested and qualified to become part of the pool of reviewers of AJER. You can send an e-mail indicating your interest to me as Chief Editor (grobla@unisa.ac.za).
 
 2020 content
 As mentioned in the introduction, AJER has adopted a more continental approach, and it is evident that there is a growing African interest, especially if one looks at the articles published in 2020. Although the papers from SA are still the majority, there were also articles from Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria.
 Four articles typically falls within the Industrial Psychology domain, with the first one determining the relationship exists between the state of the psychological contract and emotional intelligence, and whether emotional intelligence is a predicting variance of the state of the psychological contract. The second article from this category studied whether the socio-demographic variables of age, race, gender, marital status, educational level, years employed, employment status, and home language predict work engagement, psychological capital and turnover intention of teachers. Both these studies were conducted with a SA. In the third article, a measure of the maturity of the organisational leadership development process that is fit for use in southern Africa across the different levels of leadership, was developed and validated. The fourth study was conducted in Ghana, looking to determine the relationship between mental health and innovative behaviour among bank employees, as well as the effect of age on the mental health of the respondents.
 Two articles broadly focused on labour issues, with one investigating the impact of setting minimum wages in the environment and culture sector as an appropriate wage strategy intervention policy under the South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme. The other article sought to unveil the factors behind the precariat who soldier on despite challenges faced at the workplace with specific reference to the agricultural and hospitality industries in Zimbabwe.
 One article focused on union matters and typical human resource management respectively. The union related article investigated the challenges female union members encounter while seeking or assuming labour union leadership positions in Kenya.
 In the forum section, an article was placed that examined the linkage between the Nigerian Declaration Project and the levels of commitment to industrial peace among the employers’ associations, labour unions and government agencies in Nigeria.
 
 Closing remarks
 I believe we are now nearing a point where we are becoming a true Continental publication, and we are therefore inviting submissions from all over Africa. Africa-related themes are especially encouraged in the context of the dire need to develop indigenous theory and understanding of people management in the African context.
 Authors are further invited to contribute to the academic as well as industry discourse related to the impact of Covid-19 on the work force and work force practises. You are urged to look long term, by investigating and recommending possible actions to mitigate the impact, not only of the current pandemic, but any major crisis and disruption that might impact the work environment in future.

Expanded Public Works Programme Participants: Transitioning to Tourism in South Africa

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) was developed in South Africa as a strategy for job creation amongst poor people. However, this desired outcome of EPWP is often not achieved. This research follows an action research approach to analyse the potential of two organisations to collectively help overcome development gaps and improve living, learning and working conditions for EPWP participants. A new framework is proposed that will support all collaborating organizations to achieve their common objectives of overcoming poverty and unemployment and providing opportunities in rural areas for vulnerable people to earn an income. The research assesses the opportunities for collaboration between the organizations to help create business opportunities in tourism once participants exit the EPWP programme. This study included some primary data collection and adds new insights to the body of knowledge that deals with effectiveness of EPWP programmes in achieving objectives of poverty alleviation and job creation.

Austerity, resilience and the management of actors in public hospitals: a qualitative study from South Africa

BackgroundGlobal economic recession coupled with internal inefficiencies and corruption has led to a period of austerity in the South African healthcare system.This paper examines the strategies used by management in...

The individual and combined influence of the lack of employee benefits, collective bargaining and communication on labour unrest

Labour unrest is often the outcome of an interplay or combination of factors that employees are unhappy about. Whilst issues relating to the lack of collective bargaining, communication and employee benefits prove to be reasons for causing labour unrest, the question is whether, and if so, how do they come together to increase the occurrence of labour unrest. Hence, this study explores the relationships between collective bargaining, communication, employee benefits and labour unrest, respectively. It is advocated that a lack of employee benefits, collective bargaining and communication has the potential to lead to labour unrest. The research is conducted at the informal settlement in Durban, South Africa, where most of the construction employees who worked at the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) reside. A sample of fifty from fifty-eight construction employees was drawn using cluster sampling. The researcher used quantitative research methods and data was collected using a self-developed questionnaire and analysed using inferential statistics. The research revealed that all sub-dimensions of the lack of employee benefits, collective bargaining and communication have the potential to influence labour unrest individually and in varying degrees. In this regard, a significant relationship was only found between poor availability of health and wellness programmes (employee benefits) and poor bargaining councils (collective bargaining). In addition, a significant but inverse relationship was found between poor medical care (employee benefits) and poor communication. Recommendations, based on the results of the study, are presented.

The Impact of Minimum Wages in the Environment and Culture Sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme

The Public Works Programme initiated during the Great Depression in the United States was known for its ability to stimulate economic activity through employment creation. Its aim of alleviating poverty and reducing inequality finds an echo in one of the primary objectives of South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). This programme focuses on reducing unemployment through work-based programmes, in that way providing income relief to many households through job creation. The very high levels of unemployment and the associated poverty and inequality are considered to be among some of the most daunting challenges that the South African economy faces. The environment and culture sector has experienced many challenges relating to wage determination and wage-setting behaviour. The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of setting minimum wages in the environment and culture sector as an appropriate wage strategy intervention policy under the EPWP. The EPWP is a nationwide programme comprising projects that are aimed at job development. After analysing data from over 3,500 individual projects, the author found that there was a negative relationship between wage-setting behaviour and job creation as far as many individuals were concerned, especially women and youths. The author established that investment in skills development and training had a positive impact on outcomes in the Environment and Culture Sector of the EPWP.

Opportunities for women in the green economy and environmental sectors

AbstractSouth Africa's National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) recognises the important role of women and youth in environmental management and development. To this end, significant strides have been made by the country in gender mainstreaming. The “Environment Sector Gender Framework” and the “Framework and Strategy Toward Gender Mainstreaming in the Environment Sector 2016–2021” are some of the policy frameworks that have been implemented. In addition, a number of initiatives and programmes such as the Green Fund, established in April 2012, the Groen Sebenza Learnership Programme, and environmental conservation through the Expanded Public Works Programme have been developed. Using a mixed method research design approach, the paper attempts to answer the following questions: Are the concerns and perspectives of women sufficiently integrated in the green economy and environmental sector policies and programmes? What green economy and environmental sector projects are women involved in and what is the proportion of women involved in such projects? Through simple random sampling, the study established that space has been created for women involvement in the green economy and environmental sectors. However, there still remains a need to raise awareness of the available opportunities and interventions to build capacity at project conceptualisation and management levels. The involvement of women further requires meaningful public participation, social inclusion, and the devolution and decentralisation of decision‐making processes.

Writing her in: an African Feminist Exploration into the Life Herstory Narrative of Dimakatso, a Woman Participant in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) at Leratong Hospital in Gauteng, South Africa

ABSTRACTThis article conducts an African Feminist exploration into the life herstory narrative of a one-woman beneficiary in South Africa’s Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) at Leratong Hospital in Kagiso, situated in Gauteng province. In South Africa, the statistics inform us that poverty has a face, she is young, black African and poorly educated, but we are reliably informed that her access to the EPWP is steadily increasing. Once you sift through the hard data little is known about this woman; she is encrypted under a veil of invisibility, her identities, her relationships, her gendered negotiations of daily life and her agency or ability or inability to grasp opportunities and influence her life course are gapingly absent from the noisy discourse—the narrative is aborted. This article addresses the divide in the literature through the study goal of visibilising woman’s life herstory back into the narrative. It begins to fill the lacuna in the literature through the chronicling of the life herstory themes and scenes which have led the participant, Dimakatso to join this EPWP intervention within the infrastructure sector. Moreover, it strives to voice her work life experiences and negotiations within the infrastructure sector of the EPWP. This study is grounded in the epistemology of African Feminism(s), which recognises that the voices of African women need to resonate throughout the globe in her own words.

The Impact of Training and Support Interventions on Small Businesses in the Expanded Public Works Programme—Pretoria Region

The small business sector is regarded as a catalyst of employment for the largest number of people around the world. To reduce massive unemployment and inequality in the country, the Government of South Africa introduced various initiatives to stimulate and support small businesses, and the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one such initiative. The enterprise development approach, which seeks to transfer income to poor households in the short to medium term, is one of the delivery mechanisms of the EPWP. This study critically assesses the impact and effectiveness of the training and support interventions provided to small businesses through the EPWP. The study employs a quantitative research method due to the size, availability, and ease of access of the participants, and the entire population of 20 small businesses, supported by the EPWP in the Pretoria region, was sampled. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted. The study demonstrates that the training intervention provided by the EPWP has a positive impact and achieves its intended goal of enhancing the business management skills of participants. It also reveals an interesting outcome, i.e., that the majority of the participants are women. The study also identified some weaknesses in the programme, which led to the recommendation that long-term support mechanisms are essential for ensuring the sustainability of emerging enterprises.

The Expanded Public Works Programme: Perspectives of direct beneficiaries

Scholarship on the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in South Africa tends to focus on quantitative evaluation to measure the progress made in the implementation of EPWP projects. The number of employment opportunities created by EPWP, demographic profiling, skills acquired by beneficiaries and training opportunities related to the Programme form the basis of typical statistical evaluations of it, but exclude comment by the workers who participate in its projects. Based on primary sources, including in-depth interviews, newspaper reports and internet sources, this article seeks to provide a qualitative review of the EPWP from the perspective of the beneficiaries of municipal EPWP projects. Various South African government sectors hire EPWP workers to provide local services such as cleaning and maintaining infrastructure, but the employment of these workers can still be regarded as precarious, in the sense that they have no job security, earn low wages and have no benefits such as medical aid or pension fund. The interviewees indicated that, although they appreciate the temporary employment opportunities provided by the EPWP, they also experience health and safety risks and lack the advantages of organised labour groupings. Their main disadvantage, however, is that they cannot access permanent employment, which offers better wages and concomitant benefits.

The Effectiveness of the Expanded Public Works Program in Promoting Local Economic Development: A case study of Zibambele Project, eThekwini Municipality

In South Africa, with the advent of democracy, the Expanded Public Works Programme was conceived as an employment strategy by government in order to alleviate poverty and promote a better standard of living for marginalised groups, particularly youth and women in South Africa. This is a qualitative exploratory research in which the data was collected through face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries. The researcher utilised the exploratory research in order to explore the effectiveness of the Zibambele Project at the local level, and to see how it creates employment opportunities for marginalised groups. The key focus of the literature review is on local economic development, with special reference to the poverty alleviation strategies as a guideline for economic growth at local levels. The findings show that the government-led programmes that eliminate poverty at the grassroots level as well as creating employment opportunities for marginalised are crucial. Furthermore, the study shows that the government programmes are more needed in order to tackle poverty and also increase local economic development in South Africa.

The Effectiveness of the Expanded Public Works Program in Promoting Local Economic Development: A case study of Zibambele Project, eThekwini Municipality

In South Africa, with the advent of democracy, the Expanded Public Works Programme was conceived as an employment strategy by government in order to alleviate poverty and promote a better standard of living for marginalised groups, particularly youth and women in South Africa. This is a qualitative exploratory research in which the data was collected through face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries. The researcher utilised the exploratory research in order to explore the effectiveness of the Zibambele Project at the local level, and to see how it creates employment opportunities for marginalised groups. The key focus of the literature review is on local economic development, with special reference to the poverty alleviation strategies as a guideline for economic growth at local levels. The findings show that the government-led programmes that eliminate poverty at the grassroots level as well as creating employment opportunities for marginalised are crucial. Furthermore, the study shows that the government programmes are more needed in order to tackle poverty and also increase local economic development in South Africa.

The social sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme as a strategy to alleviate poverty amongst vulnerable groups in Gauteng

ABSTRACTThis article presents findings of a mixed-methods research study undertaken to evaluate the sustainability of the social sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme as a poverty alleviation strategy targeting women, youth and persons with disabilities. The study revealed that the social sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme has made a contribution to poverty alleviation, but may not be sustainable in the long term because of its reliance on volunteers, who receive a stipend. The programme is also limited by the fact that its implementation is focused mainly on one ethnic group. The article makes recommendations which may strengthen the social sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme to facilitate its sustainability.

Design and implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme: Lessons from the Gundo Lashu labour-intensive programme

This article examines the design and implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme, drawing from the lessons of the Gundo Lashu programme on labour-intensive construction in the road sector. The aim of the study was to examine major barriers to the design and implementation of the programme. The article is based on the analysis of data that were gathered from the Gundo Lashu programme. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire, face-to-face interviews with the project participants as well as reviewing key secondary data from the project documents. The study found that the projects under the Gundo Lashu programme have clearly demonstrated the importance of labour-intensive approaches, especially in the road sector. However, these projects were constrained by a wide range of challenges, ranging from a lack of community participation to poor product quality and inadequate planning for sustainable financing.

Facilitating the transition from the second to the first economy in South Africa’s rural areas

Here we describe an economic development programme termed ARISE – an acronym for African Rural Initiatives for Sustainable Environments. The programme has the potential to contribute to the simultaneous achievement of three goals to which South Africa is committed, namely: • job creation, • broad-based black economic empowerment, and • achieving expressed conservation and environmental objectives. The programme is currently being developed in the form of two ongoing pilot projects that, taken together, employ 576 previously jobless people, have created several small enterprises, and are beneficially affecting thousands of hectares of severely degraded land in South Africa’s rural areas (EOI2, 2006). The programme may be categorised in the context of South Africa’s economy as either “economic development” through poverty alleviation and in future perhaps part of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), and clearly has the potential to enable people in South Africa’s rural areas to make the transition from the “second” (informal) to the “first” (formal) economy. ARISE therefore offers an ideal opportunity for a large-scale rollout across South and southern Africa.

The Expanded Public Works Programme: Reflections from South Africa

This article reviews public works programmes as a way to alleviate poverty using experiences from around the world in general and South Africa in particular. It interrogates the targeting mechanisms including the question of who benefits, the type of benefit as well as the type of public works. The article argues that the design of public works must take cognizance of whether the initiative is attempting to address chronic and/or transient unemployment as this has a bearing on the thrust of the initiative either to address transient and/or chronic unemployment especially given the multi-dimensional nature of poverty. The article also argues that public works have multiple effects which include distributional effects; real (household) income effects; participation effects; labour market effects; decentralization effects; sustainability effects; investment effects; productivity effects; political economy effects; technical effects; as well as targeting effects. It also argues, using perceptual maps, that when developing public works, it is critical to define the issue which needs to be addressed a priori such as sanitation, HIV/AIDS, food security, unemployment, rural infrastructure development, income, poverty and so forth. The perceptual maps, and the trajectories which they portray, are the major contribution of this article. Public works can span various social and economic sectors such as social services, infrastructure development, early childhood development (ECD) and home- and community-based care (HCBC); community-based waste management, environmental conservation, wildfire management and so forth. The article argues that all interventions should be tested for viability, sustainability and appropriateness within a given context. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n8p544