Hon Chair, allow me briefly to amplify the weaknesses of the Community Work Programme.
The CWP is the Department of Co-operative Governance's job-creation initiative. It began as a pilot project in 2007, and in 2010 it was decided that it should become a fully fledged government programme based in the Department of Co-operative Governance.
It has currently been rolled out in various municipalities across the country. A target has been set of ensuring that the programme is implemented in all 23 district municipalities and in 64 of the 108 municipalities that have been included in the Local Government Turnaround Strategy. The basic functions of this programme are said to be the following.
Firstly, the programme is said to be providing access to a minimum level of regular work on an ongoing and predictable basis for those who need it most at local level.
Secondly, it is said to be offering two days of work per week, or a monthly equivalent, providing 100 days of work spread throughout the whole year.
Thirdly, the wage rate at the time of this study was R64 per day and participants worked two days a week or eight days a month.
Whatever the merits or demerits of this programme are, the DA would offer a better solution to job creation. The DA believes in growing a strong and sustainable economy in order to solve all issues of development, including citizens' empowerment. The DA believes in growing the economy by 8% in order to provide a sustainable environment to attract investment, and in so doing to create more - and real - permanent jobs, instead of work opportunities.
The CWP may be seen as an effective instrument for job creation, but it is open to manipulation by local government officials and municipal managers. It is, in fact, used as an exclusion mechanism against those who are not party affiliates. The result is that these people are being recycled back into the pool of the unemployed.
A study conducted in 2013 by the Centre for Democratising Information sought to investigate the contribution of the CWP. It was conducted in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Province, and it revealed the following horrifying experiences. Payment to participants was often late; participants complained about the fluctuating payment dates, which often resulted in late payments; and inaccurate payments were also a concern for participants. [Time expired.] [Applause.]