The launch took place at a project that is part of the Gundo Lashu (isiVhenda for ‘our victory’) provincial Labour Intensive Rural Roads Rehabilitation Programme.
Gundo Lashu is an established programme within the infrastructure programmes of the EPWP. Gundo Lashu aims to address the backlog of rural road infrastructure.
The EPWP is a national government initiative whose objective is to create a million work opportunities coupled with training within the first five years of its inception.
The programme will utilise existing public sector budgets of the three spheres of government and state owned enterprises. It will focus on increasing the use of labour intensive methods for infrastructure provision, social service delivery, and environmental rehabilitation.
Employment conditions in EPWP are governed by the code of Good Practice for Special Public Works Programmes, gazetted in 2002. This was done after negotiations with National Economic Development and Labour Council. Unemployed people entering into learnerships under the EPWP will be employed under the Learnership Determination for unemployed learners.
The departments involved are Public Works, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Department of Social Development. The Department of Labour, meanwhile, provides life skills courses including HIV/AIDS, awareness and career guidance for the workers on the programme and facilitates the implementation of learnerships through the various SETA’s.
The EPWP is one of the key outcomes of the Growth and Development Summit (GDS) of 2003.
Commenting on the launch, the Congress of South African Trade Unions congratulated the government on the launch and said it would provide hope for unemployed and poor South Africans.
"Gundo Lashu could be a model for similar projects across the country. Its aim is to use labour-intensive methods, rather than heavy machinery, in order to maximize the number of jobs created," Cosatu said.
The union federation also pledged its full support for the EPWP and all its projects.
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