Employment generation in public works: recent South African experience

Unemployment remains one of South Africa's most pressing problems while at the same time there is a great need for physical infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. Concurrently there is also a lack of individual skills and institutional capacity. From a theoretical perspective, substantiated by large scale experience elsewhere in Africa (and research and development in South Africa) there are reasons for advocating the establishment of carefully formulated, long term programmes using employment-intensive methods for the construction and maintenance of the required infrastructure. These programmes have also improved institutional capacities and developed individual skills. Proper employment-intensive construction results in a significant increase in employment generated per unit of expenditure. It can be financially competitive with conventional (equipment-based) construction and can produce the same quality of product within the same time. From a development perspective there are additional socio-economic benefits to be gained such as the development of individual skills and institutional capacities and a contribution to the alleviation of poverty. The concepts and principles, taken together with the processes and results of successful long term, large scale programmes provide criteria by which to evaluate other projects and programmes. In 1994 the South African National Public Works Programme (NPWP) was launched based on the principles outlined above. This paper briefly describes the NPWP and evaluates progress in satisfying its objectives.