Chairperson, the DA welcomes all initiatives and government strategies aimed at creating jobs. The DA is affected by the high rate of unemployment, which is hovering around 25%. It is estimated that 8 million people in South Africa are unemployed. The DA came up with an 8% growth plan to help reduce unemployment in South Africa.
The DA wants to focus on the growth path to strengthen the EPWP. We believe that it is through growth that jobs and job opportunities can be created. The DA noted with concern how people are employed in the EPWP projects. We visited several municipalities and rural areas and discovered that poor people at local level are segregated when it comes to the hiring. The process that is used really discourages people. The majority of poor people say that the EPWP is used as a political tool and not for all South Africans. It is used to benefit members of the ruling party. Modulasetulo, ditaba t?a mo?omo ke t?e bohloko set?habeng. Batho ba bot?i?a gore go diregileng ka kwelobohloko le gore ke ka lebaka la eng seo Mopresidente a se bolet?ego mabapi le go hlolwa ga me?omo set?habeng se sa diragale. Bahloki ba Limpopo bomasepaleng ba Sekhukhune, Makhuduthamaga, Elias Motsoaledi le Fetakgomo, ba lla ka me?omo yeo e t?eago dikgwedi t?e tharo fela. Ba bot?i?a gore ke there?o gore mmu?o o ka fokot?a goba go fedi?a bodiidi ka tsela yeo?
Ba bangwe ba bao ba ?omago go lenaneo la Expanded Public Works Programme, EPWP, leo le lego Mmasepaleng wa Mogalakwena, ga ba hwet?e t?helete ya tefo fela ba fiwa dijo. Ba bot?i?a gore ana ba ?omela dijo go swana le nakong yela ya aparteiti? Bona ba re taba yeo e ya ba makat?a empa ga go yo a ba fago t?hedimo?o. Ba lekile go bot?i?a mmasepala ... [T?hwahlelo.] (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[Chairperson, the issue of jobs is a problem. People are concerned that the President has promised to create jobs but that promise is not being fulfilled. Poor people in the municipalities like Sekhukhune, Makhuduthamaga, Elias Motsoaledi and Fetakgomo in Limpopo province are complaining about jobs that last only for three months. They would like to know whether the government will succeed in reducing or ending poverty with these kinds of jobs.
People who are working in the, EPWP in Mogalakwena Municipality are not getting paid but they are getting food. They are questioning whether they are working for food as they did during the apartheid era and nobody is responding to that question. They tried to enquire from the municipality ... [Interjections.]]