The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has provided at least 415 897 job opportunities for youth aged between 18 and 35, says the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI).
This amount is around 40% of the one million job opportunities created through the EPWP in the past financial year.
The Department says that the programme has continued to create economic opportunities for poor and unemployed people, including many young people who were also provided with work and training opportunities.
The National Youth Service (NYS) programme and the EPWP Artisan Development Programme, which currently has at least 367 people enrolled is said to have created employment opportunities for the youth.
The EPWP Artisan Development Programme is funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training through its National Skills Fund.
9 195 job opportunities for young people were created by the NYS in the 2021/22 financial year.
These NYS students receive theoretical learning and are then placed at various constriction sites in South Africa for training and experience in various artisan trades.
“The NYS initiative is focused on providing young people with skills programme training such as plumbing, painting, paving, welding, and general civil work. The programme also enhances understanding and aspirations of working in the built environment.” The department said.
The Agricultural Sector Education and Training Authority was contracted by the department to implement this training.
The youth involved in the programme have said that it has given them an opportunity to make a better life for themselves and their families and many are able to use the wages they receive to feed their families.
