Gendered analysis of the working for water programme

A case study of the Tsitsikame Working for Water project

By: Sadan, M
Produced by: Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) 2005

Governments have attempted to mitigate the effects of high unemployment in various ways, particularly through targeted interventions such as public works programmes. The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) of the South African government aims to address unemployment by creating labour intensive jobs through government expenditure. This paper pays specific attention to a project of the Working for Water (WfW) programme - the Tsitsikama project. Both the EPWP and the WfW focus strongly on the employment of women, and given the reality of women’s position within South Africa, this paper conducts a gender analysis of this WfW project.