Government was confident that it would meet the target of creating six-million work opportunities by 2019 through the third phase of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP), Public Works deputy Minister Jeremy Cronin said on Tuesday.

The key approach of Phase 3 of the EPWP would be to drive Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) through community participation to ensure that poor people became actively involved in government programmes within their communities.

“The EPWP remains the key government programme that strives to uplift the socioeconomic status of the poor and unemployed. It also seeks to provide opportunities for basic training to new job seekers and, in some cases, newly qualified young people.

“We are delighted with the cooperation that the EPWP enjoys with a number of stakeholders from municipalities, provincial and national departments, as well as civil society organisations. We are also equally pleased by the positive impact that the EPWP has made [in the] lives of many families across the country,” Cronin said.

Since its inception in 2004, the EPWP had created more than five-million work opportunities for poor and unemployed South Africans.

Phase 1, which ran from 2004/5 to 2008/9, delivered 1.6-million work opportunities, while a further 4.07-million work opportunities had been created during Phase 2, which concluded at the end of the 2013/14 financial year.