The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is extremely disappointed to learn that the Department of Roads and Transport has once again not met its target for job creation during the fourth quarter of the 2019/2020 financial year.

This information was revealed in the department’s fourth quarterly report for the 2019/2020 financial year.

Under the sub-programme: Construction Job Creation, the following targets were not met:

• The programme achieved a total of eight construction jobs from a target of 75 for the fourth quarter;
• The programme achieved a total of seven construction jobs for youth from the target of 41 for the fourth quarter;
• The programme achieved a total of one construction job for women from the target of 41 for the fourth quarter; and
• The programme achieved a total of zero construction jobs for youth from the target of two for the fourth quarter.

Furthermore, the department failed to achieve its target of creating 75 construction and Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) jobs through the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

In addition, the department also failed to meet the following job creation targets under the sub-programme of Maintenance:

• The programme achieved a total of 146 maintenance jobs from a target of 450 for the fourth quarter;
• The programme achieved a total of 66 maintenance jobs for youth from a target of 248 for the fourth quarter; and
• The programme achieved a total of 41 maintenance jobs for women from a target of 248 for the fourth quarter.
• The programme achieved a total of zero maintenance jobs for People with Disabilities (PwD) from a target of nine for the fourth quarter.

The fact that this department is consistently failing to meet its job creation targets is concerning and is becoming a trend. During the second and third quarters the department also failed to meet its job creation targets. These programmes play an important role in providing job opportunities, particularly for our youth who are in desperate need of jobs.

The DA will be writing to the Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Jacob Mamabolo to ascertain what measures are being put in place to ensure that these job creation targets are met and where jobs are linked to tenders, what measures are been put in place to ensure that the department is able to find bidders that meet the criteria to avoid tenders being cancelled.

Issued by DA