Policy expectations and programme reality: the poverty reduction and labour market impact of two public works programmes in South Africa

This paper explores the contribution of public works to social protection in South Africa, drawing evidence from two case studies, the Gundo Lashu programme in Limpopo and the Zibambele programme in KwaZulu Natal. The authors examine which groups are likely to benefit from participation in the South African national public works programme (the Expanded Public Works Programme or EPWP), which offers between 100,00 and 200,00 short term jobs per year, and the nature of the benefits accruing to participants. The goal of the study is to evaluate the potential of public works to function as a social safety net and/or supply-side stimulus in the labour market.

The survey explored the demographic, labour market and socio-economic identities of participants in the two programmes, and the impact of programme participation on participants, using a range of poverty indicators. The findings indicate that:

• the two programmes were attracting different segments of the population in terms of the demographic characteristics of the PWP workers
• in both groups 25% of PWP workers gave up alternative employment in order to participate in the programmes
• participation in the programmes did not move the majority of households out of poverty, on the basis of an adjusted per capita poverty line of 486 Rand per month.

The author’s major conclusions include that:

• security of employment was perceived as the core benefit of participation in the programmes, particularly the KwaZulu Natal programme which offered "permanent" employment, such that participants would turn down less secure, higher paying jobs for more secure PWP employment
• the anti-poverty impacts of PWPs may be marginal if they are not targeted to the poorest, and that poverty reducing benefits from short-term PWP employment may themselves be short term
• there is fundamental tension in the conceptualisation of the role of public works in the South African labour market: on the one hand, there is an explicit recognition by the government that PWPs have only a limited role to play in the context of entrenched and structural unemployment; and, on the other hand, there is also a heavy reliance on PWPs as a key component of a comprehensive employment strategy.

The report concludes with policy recommendations for the refining and strengthening of PWP employment programs.