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7 April 2008

The Minister of Public Works, Ms Thoko Didiza, invites members of the media to an Imbizo Focus Week and the graduation ceremony of the 290 youth who were among the first recruits of the Department of Public Works-led National Youth Service (NYS) under the auspices of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP).

The event will take place at Edenburg Stadium in Kopanong Local Municipality under the Xhariep District Municipality, in the Free State on Thursday, 10 April 2008, at 9h00.

Izimbizo have been identified as part of the government development communication to involve and engage with the publics in an attempt to elucidate them on government's programme of action including local economic development, integrated development plans and local government development strategies outlining plans to fight poverty and create a better life for all.

In April 2007, the Minister accompanying the Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, launched the Public Works National Youth Service (DPW NYS) under the EPWP to recruit and train at least 5 000 learners in 2007/08 in the built environment trades such as bricklaying, carpentry, glazing, electrical wiring, paving, painting, plumbing and others. The NYS is a government-wide initiative to mobilise South African youth behind the national goals of economic growth, skills development, social cohesion and patriotism.

To date 9 383 youth have been enlisted under the DPW NYS programme, with the National Department of Public Works alone contributing 4 172 and the rest made up of recruits from the various provincial Departments of Public Works. It is envisaged that the NYS and its successful implementation will bequeath both the industry and the public sector with necessary technical skills currently in acute shortage.

As mentioned above, already 290 youth from the first batch of NYS recruits in 2007/08 have graduated from the NYS and the Minister will attend their graduation on Thursday, 10 April at Edenburg in the Kopanong Municipality under Xhariep District Municipality, in Free State making the second leg of the Minister's Imbizo Week.

The Minister will culminate her Imbizo Week tour in the Free State province by visiting the construction site of the South African Embassy in Maseru, Lesotho on Friday, 11 April and Saturday, 12 April. The project comprises the construction of a Chancery, Recreation Facility and 10 houses for transferred personnel. The embassy is one of the various capital works projects undertaken by the National Department of Public Works on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs, including embassies in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Swaziland, as well as the construction of the Pan African Parliament building expected to come on stream towards the end of the 2009.

For attendance or RSVP contact:
Mahlatsi Mgidi
Cell: 083 375 2971 or 082 888 0836

Enquiries:
Trodger Thebe
Cell: 082 908 1850

Issued by: Department of Public Works
7 April 2008