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Community work does more for empowerment than grants: Mabuza

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Deputy President David Mabuza addressed Parliament Picture: Lindile Mbontsi
Deputy President David Mabuza addressed Parliament Picture: Lindile Mbontsi

Community work programmes are a much better form of community empowerment than handing out social grants.

These were the sentiments expressed by Deputy President David Mabuza at a question and answer session in the National Council of Provinces plenary sitting on Thursday.

Mabuza said community work programmes were an innovative offering from government, which provided a job safety net for unemployed people of working age.

“The programme provides a bridging opportunity for unemployed people who are actively looking for employment opportunities particularly youths and women,” said Mabuza.

So far the programme has provided “729 257 work opportunities” since the initiative was kick-started by the government.

“Of the job opportunities created, female participation stood at 78%, far above government’s initial target of 55%. Youth participation sits at 37%,” highlighted a visibly satisfied Mabuza.

The deputy president said the advantage of community work programmes was that they targeted “school drop-outs, the poor and unemployed”, particularly those with talents deemed “irrelevant” in other institutions such as “arts and crafts” and accredits such programmes.

“The recipients of these accreditations have something to show for their work and can latter produce it to show potential employers that they are able to do certain jobs.

“This is better than handing out social grants,” said Mabuza.

Those receiving social grants would not be affected by the extra income coming in via the community work programmes, promised Mabuza, who said this initiative was meant to “complement social grants”.

“The programme provides them with extra cash to support them in their search for full-time or part-time employment. Programme participants do community work thereby contributing to the upkeep of community asserts meaning that it is a win-win situation for communities,” said Mabuza.

According to the deputy president, the major contributions that these programmes have are towards “agriculture, in the form of community gardens that feed the elderly and vulnerable children”.

This should come as a welcome reprieve as Statistics South Africa revealed that 21.3% of South Africans households experienced “severe inadequate access to food” in 2017.

Dr Isabelle Schmidt, chief director for social statistics at Stats SA, also revealed that 18.5% of females did not attend educational institutions, listing family commitments as well as financial constraints as reasons for not attending.

These community work programmes which target “school dropouts and the unemployed” will therefore assist with provided a job safety net for these females.

Mabuza also faced several questions on his trip to Russia in May.

DA member of Parliament Bronwyn Engelbrecht asked Mabuza if he had any conversations on political murders while in Russia.

It is a known fact that the Russian government was accused of orchestrating numerous political murders while the deputy president also had to respond to numerous questions in Parliament on his role in the political killings that plagued Mpumalanga while he was premier of the province.

In all the question and answer sessions that Mabuza had addressed he told parliamentarians to “stop casting assertions” and produce any evidence against him if they had any.

In his response, Mabuza said the topic of political assignations was not on the agenda on his trip to Russia.

Mabuza reiterated that “if there is anyone with any information on political assassinations, please do the honourable thing and report the matter to law enforcement”.

In addition, Mabuza addressed various questions on progress regarding land reform and redistribution in the country.

With regards to communal land like the Ingonyama Trust, Mabuza said: “Instead of [traditional leaders] giving a community member permission to occupy land, they should instead give him a title deed.”

The deputy president reiterated that “land in traditional communities belong to the people” and not the other way around.

“The rights of people to their land must be restored, but these people must till the land,” concluded Mabuza.

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