Johannesburg – Work is underway to implement the Presidential Employment Stimulus that was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his address to a joint sitting of Parliament in October.
In its first progress report released on Tuesday, the Presidency shared some of the groundwork taking place to ensure the Presidential Employment Stimulus which was announced during the 15 October joint sitting of Parliament, bears fruit.
As part of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, the Presidential Employment Stimulus is designed to respond to the rise in unemployment caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The employment stimulus aims to create or support close to 800 000 opportunities within the current financial year.
“This is being achieved through an unprecedented expansion of public and social employment, as well as through the protection of existing jobs in vulnerable sectors and support for livelihood and enterprise opportunities.
“The progress report shows, over 400 000 opportunities have already been supported, with several programmes in the recruitment or beneficiary identification phase,” said the Presidency in a statement.
The remaining programmes are all on track to meet their targets.
Programmes that have commenced to date include:
- The Department of Basic Education has commenced employment of 300,000 education and general school assistants at schools across South Africa, providing crucial support for schools as well as valuable experience for unemployed young people.
- The National Arts Council and the National Film and Video Foundation have released calls for proposals to support the creative sector and protect jobs in cultural institutions.
- The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has expanded the Global Business Services incentive to enable job creation for young people in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
- The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has expanded its public employment programmes in water and energy efficiency, facilities management, waste management and the Welisizwe Rural Bridges programme.
- The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries has expanded its public employment programmes in natural resource management, environmental protection and infrastructure.
“The speed and scale at which the Presidential Employment Stimulus has been implemented demonstrates government’s commitment to act with urgency to support South Africa’s economic recovery,” said the Presidency.
The Presidency is set to provide regular updates on the progress of these programmes.
Eleven national departments and all nine provinces are responsible for implementation of programmes supported through the employment stimulus.
Sunday World
