The impact of the Expanded Public Works Programme on poverty alleviation and skills ...

119 Pages·2015·3.3 MB·English

by  Kingwell Chirwa

The impact of the Expanded Public Works Programme on
poverty alleviation and skills development for social auxiliary
workers in Ekurhuleni
by

Dakalo Mukhathi

A mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree

Master of Social Work (Social Development & Policy)

in the Department of Social Work and Criminology
at the
University of Pretoria
Faculty of Humanities

Supervisor: Dr L S Geyer
February 2015
i
Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the following people and institutions:

 My supervisor, Dr LS Geyer, for professional guidance and supervision in this
project.
 Ms J Jordaan and Dr L Louw, the Department of Statistics, for the technical
assistance in the analysis of data.
 My daughter, Vhuhwavho, for her unconditional love.
 My husband, Godfrey, for the support and encouragement throughout this project.
 My father, Nyambeni Bethuel Mukhathi, who with very little education always
encouraged me to strive for more academically and encouraged me to complete
this project.
 My mother, Ivy Mukhathi, for her motherly love and understanding.
 My siblings Lischen, Tondani, Ntamiseni and Mbavhalelo.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.”
Romans 8:28
D Mukhathi
Pretoria, October 2014

ii
Abstract

The impact of the Expanded Public Works Programme on poverty alleviation and
skills development for social auxiliary workers in Ekurhuleni

RESEARCHER: Ms. Dakalo Mukhathi
SUPERVISOR: Dr Lourens Stephanus Geyer
DEGREE: MSW (Social Development & Policy)
INSTITUTION: University of Pretoria

The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) was announced by the former
president, Mr Thabo Mbeki, in 2002. The EPWP is one part of an overall government
strategy to reduce poverty through the alleviation and reduction of unemployment. It is a
deliberate approach to ensure that participants gain the necessary skills, increase their
capacity to earn an income and increase their chances of securing employment, and
embarking on sustainable intervention in the second economy to address social and
economic inequities. The EPWP aims to create employment in four sectors: infrastructure,
the environment, the social sector and the economic sector. This study focused on the
social sector, specifically the programme for social auxiliary workers. The goal of the study
was to determine the impact of the EPWP on Social Auxiliary Work (SAWs) in the
Ekurhuleni Metropolitan area.
In order to achieve this goal, a quantitative research approach was adopted to determine
whether the EPWP for social auxiliary workers is successful in poverty alleviation and
skills development. A questionnaire was designed as a data collection instrument which
was divided into the broad categories of biographic information, poverty alleviation and
skills development. Quantitative data were collected through a process of group
administration.
Quantitative findings indicated that the EPWP for SAWs was successful in terms of
poverty alleviation. The findings indicated that the majority of respondents who had no
income before the EPWP for SAWs earned an income after enrolling into the EPWP.
Those who had an income before EPWP indicated that their financial position improved
iii
after enrolling into the EPWP for SAWs. Through the findings respondents also indicated
that after qualifying as SAWs, securing employment was easy. SAWs reported that they
were able to afford groceries, technology (airtime), toiletries, non-consumables,
accommodation and clothing after enrolling into the EPWP for SAWs. The study also
found that the majority of the respondents indicated that their salary was making a big
difference in their lives. Through the EPWP for SAWs, people who were unemployed
received training and full time employment as SAWs. However, to confirm whether the
EPWP was successful in poverty alleviation, the researcher inquired from the respondents
if they agreed with the statement that the EPWP was successful in poverty alleviation. The
majority of the respondents agreed that the EPWP for SAWs was successful in poverty
alleviation and addressing unemployment. Therefore, it was concluded that the EPWP for
SAWs was successful in poverty alleviation.
In terms of skills development the researcher focused on the skills development before the
respondents enrolled into the EPWP for SAWs and skills development after enrolling. It
was concluded that the majority of respondents did not have financial skills; namely
budgeting, saving and counting money, spending money wisely, investing money,
depositing and transferring money. However, the findings of this study pointed to the
conclusion that the respondents obtained those skills after enrolling into the programme.
The study also focused on other forms of skills that the respondents obtained through the
EPWP for SAWs training. Those skills included access to social services, communications
and networking and bonding in the community. These forms of skills development were
also explored in this research as it correlated with the Exit Level Outcomes (ELOs) of the
SAW programme as registered with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). It
thus appeared that the respondents obtained all the skills requirements in line with the
ELOs for the SAW qualification. The study concluded that the EPWP for SAW is
successful in skills development.
The recommendations of this study are offered as guidelines to ensure that the
programme promotes poverty alleviation and skills development of SAWs in line with a
social developmental approach at the Department of Social Development (DSD) and those
working at non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Social capital involves the creation of social infrastructure such as housing, schools, health
clinics, sanitary and water supply projects. However, the majority of the respondents
iv
declared that they did not obtain the skills of accessing infrastructure and assets in their
working environment. It is therefore recommended that SAWs who did not acquire the skill
of access to infrastructure should be equipped with this skill through continuous
professional development programmes. The EPWP for SAWs should not be seen as a
short-term employment opportunity but as a permanent employment opportunity for those
who go through the programme and complete it. DSD should monitor the job placement
process to ensure that every person who went through the training is absorbed.
More males must be recruited into the EPWP for SAWs to better their lives and that of the
communities they live in. Traditionally men are socialised to become providers for their
families. Therefore, by becoming SAWs, men could be enabled to provide for their families
as expected.
Salaries of SAWs should be adjusted to make the profession more attractive to all ethnic
groups.

Keywords:
 Department of Social Development
 EPWP: Expanded Public Works Programme
 Impact
 Social auxiliary worker
 Social development
 Poverty alleviation
 Skills development
 Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

v
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................ 1
1.1. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXTUALISATION ................................................... 1
1.2. RATIONALE AND PROBLEM STATEMENT ......................................................... 4
1.3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................. 4
1.4. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH STUDY ..................................... 5
1.5. RESEARCH QUESTION ....................................................................................... 6
1.6. OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................... 6
1.7. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY ............................................................................. 8
1.8. DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS ....................................................................... 8
1.8.1. Department of Social Development ................................................................. 8
1.8.2. EPWP: Expanded Public Works Programme ................................................. 8
1.8.3. Impact ................................................................................................................. 8
1.8.4. Social Auxiliary Worker ....................................................................................... 9
1.8.5. Social Development ............................................................................................ 9
1.9. CONTENTS OF THE RESEARCH REPORT ........................................................ 9
CHAPTER 2: THE EPWP IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIALDEVELOPMENT WITH
REFERENCE TO SOCIAL AUXILIARY WORKERS ........................................................ 10
2.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10
2.2. POVERTY AND SKILLS SHORTAGES IN SOUTH AFRICA ................................. 11
2.3. CAUSES OF POVERTY ......................................................................................... 13
2.4. URBAN POVERTY ................................................................................................. 14
2.4.1. Causes of urban poverty ............................................................................... 15
2.5. CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY THE URBAN POOR ................................... 16
2.6. MEASURES BY GOVERNMENT TO REDUCE URBAN POVERTY ................... 16
2.7. GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO POVERTY AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT .... 16
2.8. THE EPWP AND ITS EXISTENCE ...................................................................... 18
2.9. THE MANDATE OF THE EPWP .......................................................................... 19
2.9.1. Human capital .................................................................................................. 20
2.9.2. Social capital .................................................................................................... 21
2.9.3. Economic capital .............................................................................................. 22
2.10. THE LINK BETWEEN SAW TRAINING AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ........... 23
vi
2.11. THE SOCIAL AUXILIARY WORKERS TRAINING PROGRAMME ...................... 25
2.12. CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING THE EPWP IN THE DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT RELEVANT TO SAWs ................................................... 29
2.13. SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 32
CHAPTER 3:RESEARCH METHODOLOGY, RESEARCH FINDINGS AND
INTERPRETATION ........................................................................................................... 33
3.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 33
3.2. SECTION A: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 34
3.2.1. Research question ........................................................................................... 34
3.2.2. Research paradigm and approach ................................................................... 34
3.2.3. Research purpose and type ............................................................................. 34
3.2.4. Research design and methods ........................................................................ 35
3.3. DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS .................................................................. 38
3.3.1. Pearson’s chi-square test................................................................................. 39
3.3.2. McNemar’s test ................................................................................................ 39
3.3.3. Validity and Reliability ...................................................................................... 39
3.4. LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS AND AUTHORISATION .................................... 40
3.5. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................... 40
3.5.1. Avoidance of harm ........................................................................................... 40
3.5.2. Informed consent ............................................................................................. 41
3.5.3. Deception of subjects and/or respondents ....................................................... 41
3.5.4. Violations of privacy/anonymity/confidentiality ................................................. 41
3.5.5. Actions and competence of researchers .......................................................... 41
3.5.6. Release or publication of the findings .............................................................. 42
SECTION B: RESEARCH RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION ....................................... 42
3.6. SECTION B1: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ........................................................ 42
3.6.1. Gender ............................................................................................................. 42
3.6.2. Respondents’ age at the time of the study ....................................................... 43
3.6.3. Ethnic group of respondents ............................................................................. 43
3.6.4. Year of qualification as social auxiliary worker ................................................. 44
3.6.5. Main reasons for studying towards the SAWs certificate .................................. 44
3.7. SECTION B2: POVERTY ALLEVIATION ............................................................ 45
3.7.1. Financial position of respondents ..................................................................... 46
3.7.2. Employability .................................................................................................. 48
vii
3.7.3. Buying ability/Spending power ......................................................................... 49
3.8. SALARY/INCOME INPUT ...................................................................................... 55
3.8.1. Dependency ..................................................................................................... 57
3.8.2. Preliminary conclusion on the EPWP for social auxiliary work regarding poverty
alleviation ................................................................................................................... 57
3.9. SECTION B3: SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ................................................................ 59
3.9.1. Financial skills .................................................................................................. 59
3.9.2. Conclusion about financial skills ....................................................................... 60
3.10. OTHER SKILLS .................................................................................................... 61
3.10.1. Cluster 1: Access to social services ............................................................... 61
3.10.2. Cluster 2: Communication .............................................................................. 65
3.10.3. Cluster 3: Social networking and bonding in community ................................ 70
3.11. RELEVANCE OF THE PROGRAMME TOWARDS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ..... 74
3.11.1. Relevance of the EPWP towards skills development ..................................... 74
3.12. GENERAL INPUT ................................................................................................. 75
3.13. IMPACT OF EPWP IN THE LIVES OF SAWS ..................................................... 76
3.13.1. Preliminary conclusion about EPWP on SAWs .............................................. 77
3.14. PEARSON’S CHI-SQUARE TEST ....................................................................... 79
3.15. SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 81
CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................... 82
4.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 82
4.2. RESEARCH GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ...................................... 82
4.3. CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................... 86
4.4. RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 87

viii
APPENDICES

Appendix A: Data collection instrument……………………………………………………….99
Appendix B: Permission letter from DSD…………………………………………………….105
Appendix C: Informed consent………………………………………………………………..106
Appendix D: Ethical clearance from UP……………………………………………………...108

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Ethnic groups………………………………………………………………………….44
Figure 2: Main reasons for studying Social Auxiliary Work………………………………....45
Figure 3: Employability……………………………………………………………………..........48
Figure 4: Salary income…………………………………………………………………............56
Figure 5: The EPWP and poverty alleviation………………………………………………….58
Figure 6: Relevance of EPWP for skills development …………………………....................74
Figure 7: Impact of EPWP on SAWs……………………………………………………..........77

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 1: Gender of the respondents…………………………………………………………..42
TABLE 2: Financial position before the programme………………………………………….46
TABLE 3: Financial position after the programme…………………………………………….47
TABLE 4: Groceries before and groceries after the EPWP………………………………….50
TABLE 5: Technology before and technology after the EPWP……………………………..51
TABLE 6: Toiletries and cleaning material before and after the EPWP……………………51
TABLE 7: Non-consumable items before taking part in the EPWP and non-
consumable items after qualifying as SAWs……………………………………..53
ix