KwaZulu-Natal Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Martin Meyer revealed that “sex for jobs” is an ongoing scandal within the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).
Meyer said that the department recently undertook a province-wide tour to engage with communities directly through its citizens’ engagement roadshow, and EPWP and trading sex for jobs constantly emerged as the number one concern in every community visited.
The EPWP is a nationwide programme covering all spheres of government and state-owned enterprises that provides vital avenues for labour absorption and income transfers to poor households in the short- to medium-term.
“Some complaints we experienced included participants being made to prove which party they aligned with before being given EPWP opportunities. Others were asked to pay for those jobs. Jobs were given to people who have a relationship with officials, and most shockingly, there was the ongoing scandal of sex for jobs that we still find,” Meyer said.
“The challenge with this is like with any sexual assault or rape case, people are willing to tell us this confidentially, but getting people to open criminal charges is very difficult. (That’s) because the most desperate and the poor are being exploited. They get the jobs, and then they’re very scared of losing these jobs, losing what income they have or being victimised by the people in their community.”
Meyer said it was unfortunate that while they knew for a fact that the sex for jobs phenomenon existed, and was reported at times, it was difficult for the department to take action.
“Sex for jobs is a form of sexual abuse, it’s a form of rape, and it needs the fullest criminal charges to be laid.”
Meyer said that the complaints they received led the department, a month ago, to launch its EPWP anti-fraud and whistleblower portal found on their webpage, kznworks.gov.za.
“In the first month, we received 18 credible and actionable complaints on this complaint line. These includeed a lack of transparency in recruitment processes, alleged political interference in recruitment, and operational challenges with certain municipalities that led to two months’ delays in payments,” Meyer said.
He said EPWP was more than just a quick fix to a long-standing problem of unemployment, upskilling, and empowerment, and the programme also faced serious ongoing challenges.
thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za
