DESPITE the cracks showing in the GNU, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, has a good story to tell.
Being a DA member, his department continues to create much needed jobs, through the Expanded Public Works Programme, nationally.
“Every government decision must be judged by whether it creates work. In our Department, we can say with confidence that our programmes do exactly that. They provide jobs today while building the skills South Africa needs tomorrow,” he boasted.
Through the Expanded Public Works Programme, the Department has committed to creating 121 059 work opportunities over the next five years, equal to more than 77 000 full-time jobs.
Sixty percent of these opportunities will go to women, 55 percent to youth, and 2 percent to persons with disabilities.
The Department’s focus is not only on job numbers, but also on the quality of work, with training and support that prepare participants for long-term employment.
The Minister noted that initiatives such as Youth Environmental Services, Youth Jobs in Waste, and Environmental Monitors are giving thousands of South Africans accredited training, mentorship, and career pathways in biodiversity conservation, aquaculture, waste management, and renewable energy.
He also highlighted the Department’s role as one of South Africa’s largest generators of work opportunities, particularly for young people, women, and marginalised groups.
With rising global support for just transition finance, investors are already shifting billions into sustainability projects. In South Africa, the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan has attracted over R350 billion in private renewable energy investment since 2023, alongside significant international commitments.
“Our programmes show that climate action and job creation are the same project. South Africa’s largest jobs initiative is not in spite of sustainability. It is green growth itself,” continued the Minister, who also explained that the National Employment Vulnerability Assessment ensures that workers in coal, metals, petroleum, agriculture, and tourism are supported with resilience plans.
This makes the country’s just transition practical, not abstract, by ensuring that people in older industries are equipped to participate in the new economy, he noted.
“Every new solar panel, every waste separation project, every environmental monitor we train is more than a line in a report. It is dignity, it is work, it is a future for families across South Africa,” says the Minister.
Image (Dr Dion George, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment says EPWP is a good story to tell).
