Why municipalities do not comply and implement expanded public works programmes: a case study of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in South Africa

The Expanded public works programme (EPWP) was a South African government initiative that was meant to fight poverty, reduce unemployment and develop skills for young people, women and people with disabilities. EPWP was to be implemented by the national, provincial and local governments in order to alleviate poverty and increase economic growth. The programme started with phase 1 in April 2004, where the objective was to create a minimum of 1 million job opportunities by March 2009. The target was achieved by the South African government, but many municipalities faced challenges as they were struggling to meet their own targets. EPWP phase 2 started in April 2009, where the target of creating 4.5 million work opportunities was set and it was meant to end in March 2014. Phase 3 was scheduled to start in April 2014 to March 2019. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM) is a metropolitan municipality, which should implement EPWP, and it consists of the towns of East London, King Williams Town and Bisho. BCMM council accepted the EPWP structure in the financial year 2013/14, charging the Programme Manager to lead the EPWP unit, consisting of a single office to implement the programme. The municipality faced many challenges, in failing to meet the targets set by the National Department of Public Works (NDPW). These challenges include: the lack of political and administration commitment towards EPWP, lack of proper EPWP training and lack of accountability from Senior Management. Other challenges facing BCMM include: a lack of data capturers to consolidate EPWP information, lack of qualifies people to design and implement labour intensive projects and the shortage of staff within the EPWP unit, which was meant to support all departments. If the municipality can overcome all the challenges, the set targets can be met, unemployment can be reduced and poverty can be alleviated. There is an urgent need for the Mayor and Municipal Manager to commit themselves toward the full implementation of EPWP