President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the Presidential Employment Stimulus has now enrolled a million participants since its inception in October 2020, with the Department of Basic Education employing more than half of the participants (596 109).
The programme was launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on employment. Its interventions included public sector jobs, livelihood support, training programmes and job protection for those in vulnerable sectors.
The Presidential Employment Stimulus envisaged a public investment of R100 billion over a three-year period. According to the government's dashboard for the stimulus, the initiative has created 771 574 jobs and supported 249 576 livelihoods since its inception.
The stimulus had 11 programmes, administered by various departments, including the Department of Basic Education's teacher assistant programme and the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform's support for small-scale and subsistence farmers.
On Monday, Ramaphosa said in his weekly newsletter that hundreds of thousands of job seekers have already found work opportunities as school assistance thanks to the programme.
"In the largest programme supported by the stimulus, for example, nearly 600 000 young people have been placed as school assistants in over 22 000 schools in every corner of the country.
"School management, teachers and other stakeholders all agree that the contribution of the school assistants has improved the learning environment in schools," said Ramaphosa.
The largest contributor to the stimulus is the Department of Basic Education with 596 109 jobs created. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development supported 161 055 livelihoods through the stimulus.
"The Presidential Employment Stimulus has also supported sustainable livelihoods. Over 140 000 subsistence farmers have received production input vouchers to assist them to resume and expand production after the disruptions of Covid-19," Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said 26 universities were also helping with the placement of unemployed graduates in work "relevant to their qualifications”.
The stimulus helped retain 40 339 jobs against a target of 60 732. In his newsletter, Ramaphosa encouraged the private sector to support the Presidential Employment Stimulus.