Housing in Southern Africa October 2015

News

New EPWP job seeker policy The City of Cape Town is revising its job seeker policy for the Expanded PublicWorks Programme (EPWP). The policy guides the appointment of unemployed job seekers for temporary work opportunities on City-led community-based projects and programmes.

T he existing policy covers as- pects such as who is eligible for EPWP work opportunities the responsibilities of the department or service provider, who is appointing the job seekers. The revision of the policy aims to revisit policy provisions that may no longer be relevant and reinforce cur- rent principles and methodology for recruitment and realign governance issues with the City’s Integrated Development Plan. “Our implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme ranks as one of the best in the coun- try, but there is always room for improvement. That is why we are revising the policy. This will ensure that we continue serving the best interests of the hundreds of thou- sands of job seekers registered on our database,” said CityMayoral Commit-

tee Member for Social Development and Early Childhood Development, Suzette Little. Some of the key aspects that the revised policy tackles is the re-em- ployment of workers and regulating the exclusion period for job seekers who have had work opportunities through the programme. This also excludes councillors from involve- ment in the recruitment process. The database is available to government departments and the private sector. “Employers will have access to po- tential employees who have already

been screened for basics such as skill level and identity checks. The job seekers’ prospects for contract or even full-time employment will therefore improve,” added Little. The City has a proven track record in terms of EPWP implementation. The EPWP stipend is based on amini- mum of R75 to R100 per day. The City of Cape Town is the first municipality to introduce an EPWP induction booklet with standard operating procedures and internal contract management and payroll processes for the sector. ■