The Tshwane African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) chair, Lesego Makhubela, has refuted allegations that the party was opportunistic with its solidarity support to Extended Public Works Programme( EPWP) workers.
Makhubela also denied that the Youth League members are still longing for the old days of labour brokers and the use of EPWP as a patronage programme for the party.
He says it was the ANC when it was still in power that fought against labour broking.
Makhubela says some of the dismissed workers by the DA administration are part of the group that the ANC enlisted in the EPWP.
“There were workers who were working for a particular company a labour broker, those workers when we fought the battle of ensuring that in Tshwane we don’t have tom have even a single company where we actually get workers from that labour brokerage we fought until we finish. Then there was one company which had about 600 people we took those workers from the company we directly employed them in the EPWP and they were working in the programme. As you see right now the success of the ANCYL and the then ANC government was to ensure when Ramokgopa left office there was no single labour broker supplying workforce to the City of Tshwane,” he said.
Meanwhile, some of the demonstrators who joined the ANC Youth League protest march to Tshwane House says they are not concerned about the politics but their livelihood. 58 year-old Mohau Mokgothali, who has worked for the Tshwane municipality controlled EPWP for the past five years until his dismissal last December, says as a bread winner he is disappointed with the council decision to terminate his employment. He says he joined the march to claim his only livelihood back.
“He has been saying that DA is here to create jobs. We are very disturbed to see that they are the ones now who are forming part of the unemployment which is happening because you cannot take the crumbs from the needy and say you are creating jobs. If you disadvantage the impoverished and claiming that you are coming with something nice for the community, now you are getting it wrong sir,” said Mokgothali.
