Follow up statement on workers aged 55 years and above in Community Employment Programmes
SACP South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
Follow up statement on workers aged 55 years and above in Community Employment Programmes
Tuesday, 21 January 2025: - The government has halted the retrenchment of workers aged 55 years and older from the Community Work Programme (CWP). The SACP had called for this on 6 January 2025 in its statement on Joe Slovo’s 30th annual commemoration delivered by the General Secretary Solly Mapaila at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto. Our Deputy National Chairperson Thulas Nxesi reiterated the call as part of the SACP’s message on the 113th founding anniversary of the ANC in Khayelitsha.
In halting the decision, the government has extended the affected workers’ contracts to the end of March 2025. However, we must emphasise that this is not enough. The SACP unequivocally calls on the government to abandon any plans to terminate these workers’ contracts beyond March 2025.
The decision to terminate the contracts of older workers, driven by the National Treasury’s austerity policies, stands in stark contradiction to the commitments made in the ANC-led Alliance’s May 2024 election manifesto, which pledged to create and sustain 2.5 million work opportunities through public employment programmes. Retrenching workers from public employment programmes in a country grappling with high unemployment and deepening inequality is inconsiderate of the trust of the people and the importance of the work that they perform.
The abrupt notification by the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) to workers on 24 December 2024 – giving them just seven days’ notice – was a glaring example of disregard for the dignity and livelihoods of vulnerable workers. Such treatment is not only inconsiderate but also undermines the principles of ubuntu, botho, and social justice that should guide our government.
The SACP reiterates that public employment programmes like the CWP are not merely work opportunity schemes but vital mechanisms to alleviate poverty, build community resilience and advance the goals of the Freedom Charter, which asserts the right of all to work. Cutting off older workers from these programmes denies them the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to society.
We also reaffirm the principle that public employment programmes should be transformed into decent work programmes and training pace for all who fall into the working age category, including the youth. This transformation must ensure equal pay and conditions for work of equal value and align the wages and benefits of CWP workers with those of workers in comparable roles.
The SACP calls for immediate, genuine engagement with all stakeholders, including workers and their unions, to safeguard the livelihoods of those employed in the CWP and to strengthen public employment programmes as part of our national employment and infrastructure development and maintenance priorities. Public employment programmes, if properly designed, can go a long way in building a contribution towards climate resilient infrastructure in our communities.