More than 6,000 workers sourced from various wards and who were part of the public employment programme (Pep) in the eThekwini municipality have been left unemployed after the multi-million programme was prematurely ended.
The ANC-run municipality has cited financial difficulties for terminating the programme.
The shocked employees only got to know about their sudden and painful fate on Monday when they reported for duty.
One worker who tipped-off IOL about their predicament, said they reported for duty only to be told that they had been rendered unemployed.
NEWS: Over 6,000 beneficiaries of the Public Employment Programme have been left jobless after eThekwini prematurely ended the programme. The beneficiaries stopped working on Monday and according to letters, the municipality said there is no money to fund the programme.
The workers were served with letters from the economic development and planning cluster.
The programme was geared towards fighting the high unemployment rate in the country and it was part of the presidential stimulus package.
“[The] 2023/24 financial year being the last year of the programme has been a difficult budgeting period with the approved business plan being for a maximum of three months. The projected three months ended on September 12,” the letters sent to the dejected employees read.
“Efforts to extend the project beyond September 2023 have not been successful to date which leaves us with no other option but to suspend the projects driven by internal departments,” it continued.
“We have requested departments to alert all beneficiaries under them not to report to work on Monday, October 9, until further notice.”
The cluster said the workers will be paid for the days they have worked later this month.
“Payroll will be processed from next week and days worked in the current cycle paid on the normal salary date of October 25.
“We know the financial distress this will cause to beneficiaries given the abrupt suspension, but the programme can no longer afford to continue without additional funding.”
The spokesperson for the municipality, Gugu Sisilana, confirmed the latest developments.
“This is indeed a very disappointing development that is beyond the Municipality’s control,” Sisilana said.
"The programme has been a major success in terms of providing an income to the participants who joined when it started in the 2021/22 financial year.“
She added that the municipality has been hard at work exploring various solutions to minimise the impact on beneficiaries.
“eThekwini will continue to explore all possibilities so that the programme can be resuscitated as soon as possible,” she said.
"This includes engaging with the National Treasury to request for additional budget.“
Although the municipality admitted that the programme has over 6,000 beneficiaries, it claimed that only 3541 of them have been affected by the latest developments.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
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