GOOD Statement by Lulama Benge,
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
18 April 2023
Valuable opportunities for poverty alleviation and economic inclusion are simply being lost in the City of Cape Town, with officials unable to provide any explanations for the lack of concern for the most poorest of communities.
One the one hand, the DA run City would like residents to believe that they are committed to using the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) “as a critical tool not only for poverty alleviation, but also…in fostering economic inclusion through effectively improving the employability of marginalised residents in the city”.
Yet, at the same time we are expected to believe that nine months into the current financial year, the Urban Waste department could not find one person who needs the temporary work opportunity in Gugulethu, Nyanga and Philippi.
Earlier this month, the Urban Waste portfolio committee was told that R35 million had been budgeted for EPWP salaries, but that with 12 weeks to go to the end of the financial year, they had only managed to spend R18 million. This is about 50% of the annual budget and 74% of the planned spend by the end of March 2023.
Amongst the lost opportunities are 115 work opportunities that were planned for area cleaning in wards 41 (Gugulethu), 34 (Philippi), 37 (Nyanga) and 39 (Gugulethu).
It is unacceptable that not even one unemployed resident from these impoverished wards, with massive dumping and waste management problems, had been contracted by the City’s Urban Waste Department to do supervisory and area cleaning work.
When GOOD questioned how this was possible in areas with some of the highest unemployment in the city, Mayco Member Grant Twigg and his officials could not provide any clarity.
At a time when nearly 10 million South Africans are unemployed and have zero access to any income, a City government that preaches “economic inclusion” should be running out of budget for EPWP salaries – not sitting with almost half the budget unspent and several hundred planned temporary work opportunities not filled.
In fact, the Urban Waste department had planned to create 512 EPWP opportunities in this financial year but they haven’t even managed to create half that number – with only 225 EPWP contracts signed.
This is an unforgiveable failure to govern with empathy and car, and this DA government has failed the people who in their eyes live on the wrong side of the M3 and M5.
GOOD calls on Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis to come to these communities and explain why they were not given the opportunities that other communities were given.
It is impossible to accept that in these tough economic times, 287 EPWP opportunities were simply not created while political leaders have the time to visit the penguins in Antartica.
Media Enquiries:
Lulama Benge, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 060 688 8384
Email: lulamab@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za