Social Development Minister Bathabile Dlamini says Phase 3 of the Expanded Public Work Programme (EPWP) Social Sector must aim high and work harder towards increasing the current set targets for work opportunities.

Addressing the EPWP conference in Worcester earlier this week, Minister Dlamini said in addition to more than four million work opportunities created during EPWP Phase 2, the emphasis should be more on the impact of the EPWP within the communities where these projects are being implemented.

She highlighted some of the key government priorities, which can be linked to the EPWP Social Sector, including creating work opportunities in the fields of education, health, rural development and social development.

“The social sector has a target of creating over one million work opportunities from the overall EPWP five-year target of six million work opportunities by 2019.

“These employment targets would be met through EPWP social sector programmes such as the early childhood development, school nutrition programme, home community based programme and pharmaceutical assistant programme,” the Minister said.

She said they will keep training people in the social sector to enable them to develop careers and mainstream issues of disability.

The three-day EPWP Social Sector conference, which ends on Thursday, will look at strategic policy initiatives, government priorities for the EPWP social sector, rooting EPWP in communities as well as the repositioning of Phase 3 of the social sector.

The conference will also engage extensively on challenges facing orphaned and vulnerable children and youth in South Africa and the role of the EPWP in addressing these challenges.

– SAnews.gov.za