CIVN 7020 Project - Millennium Development Goals-Thomas Chongo

PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING AREAS
ASSIGNMENT: Millennium Development Goals
UNIVERSITY OF THE
WITWATERSRAND
NAME OF STUDENT: Thomas Chongo
STUDENT NUMBER: 481123
DEPARTMENT: Civil and Environmental Engineering
COURSE: CIVN7020: Project Management in Developing Areas
COURSE LECTURER: Dr Anne Fitchett
DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 May 2015

Question:
As we reach the target date of meeting the MDGs (2015), it would appear that the sub-Saharan
African region will have met few, if any, of the goals or their sub-targets (Easterly, 2009; Too-
Kong, 2014). A review of the academic literature (Fehling, et al., 2013) suggests that this
misrepresents the real achievements made in our region. In this assignment, we will explore
this apparent contradiction, while gaining insights into improving our ability to design and
implement successful developmental projects and programmes.
You are to select any one project or programme within the sub-Saharan region that was
intended to contribute to meeting any one of the MDG goals or targets.
 Analyse the formulation of your chosen project (strategic decision-making and its
design) and comment on its likelihood of success in terms of ‘best practice’, as
discussed in this course.
 Discuss the implementation of the project/programme, commenting on its success in

terms of meeting the relevant MDG and its own objectives.
 Critique the effectiveness of the project/programme from a broad developmental

perspective, especially in the light of criticisms that the MDGs are simplistic and a ‘box
ticking’ exercise (Fehling, et al., 2013). For example, does the project/programme
contribute to the upliftment of its host community, or merely deliver on the specific
targets, goals or objectives?
 Comment on whether it is likely that the project/programme is a priority of the beneficiary

community. To what extent was this determined, eg. through community participation?
 Based on your study, what are your recommendations to the Post 2015 MDG Task
Group? (See Melamed and Scott, 2011; UN System Task Team, 2012.)
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Thomas Chongo – Student No. 488123
CIVN7020: Project Management in Developing Areas
Assignment: Millennium Development Goals
Table of Contents
LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................................... iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ v
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 7
2. PROGRAMME FORMULATION .............................................................................. 7
2.1 Programme Analysis ..................................................................................................................9
3. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION ...................................................................... 14
3.1 Programme Progress.............................................................................................................. 14
3.1.1 Targets Achieved............................................................................................................. 17
3.1.2 Programme Targets and MDGs’ ................................................................................... 20
3.2 Programme Review ................................................................................................................ 22
4. RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 28
4.1 Moving Forward – Post 2015................................................................................................. 29
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 33
Internet Articles ........................................................................................................... 34
iii
LIST OF SYMBOLS
AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

ANC – Africa National Congress
CETA – Construction Education and Training Authority
CIDB – Construction Industry Development Board
COSATU – Congress of South African Trade Unions
DPW – Department of Public Works
ESAP – Economic Structural Adjustment Programme
EPWP – Expanded Public Works Programme
GDS – Growth and Development Strategy
HIV – Human Immunodeficiency Virus
MDG – Millennium Development Goal
NDPW – National Department of Public Works
NQF – National Qualification Framework
RDP – Reconstruction and Development Programme
SACP – South Africa Communist Party
SETA – Sector Education and Training Authorities
SMME – Small, Medium to Micro-sized Enterprises
UN – United Nations
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report focuses on Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger of the Millennium
Development Goals; and I have identified South Africa’s Reconstruction and
Development Programme (RDP) as a programme intended to contribute and meet the
millennium development goals and targets. It has to be noted that the RDP is a socio-
economic policy developed by the Africa National Congress (ANC) government of 1994.
The RDP programme is multifaceted and has many components among which is the
Public works Programme. It is a programme mainly administered by the Department of
Public Works that creates employment through road-construction projects and the
installation of water and sanitation infrastructure. The Public Works programme is more
aligned to Goal 1 of the MDG. Its purpose and intent directly respond to the targets of
Goal 1 as listed by the UN.
The EPWP was formulated to respond to high levels of unemployment, lack of essential
services and infrastructure in disadvantaged communities as well as skills training
among the unemployed. EPWP was adopted as a national programme and its
implementation, as previously mentioned, involves different parties from all three
spheres of government. The objectives of EPWP can be summarized as creation of
employment through public infrastructure, environment, economic and social
programmes.
The EPWP programme clearly is achieving its set targets and as presented in the MDG
Country Report of 2010, South Africa’s achievements are not fully meeting some of the
MDG targets. Considering South African circumstances, there is an intricate correlation
between poverty and unemployment. The EPWP has created employment but the
employment to population ratio in South Africa since 2001 is low. This ratio clearly
implies there is high level of unemployment in South Africa and this will lead to
increased levels of poverty. The EPWP programme will perform exceptionally well and
meet its targets and objectives, however it will not deliver the same performance if
measured against MDG targets and objectives. Delivering on MDG targets requires a
concerted effort from all government arms especially in the South African context. There
is no doubt that MDGs are a positive influence and have raised global awareness of
development issues. The discussion note of the United Nations (UN) System Task
Team on the Post 2015 UN Development agenda ascertains that it might difficult to
measure and evaluate the impact MDG has had on human development. However, it
does postulate a positive trend in progress made since the signing of the MDG
declaration. Sustainable economic growth has been highlighted as key to meeting MDG
targets, especially MDG 1.
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Moving forward, post 2015, the MDG agenda should therefore provide a clear focus on
how to tackle human development. It should still be reporting on quantifiable targets but
the means of approach should be tailor suited for each country and by that country
through its systems and structures. This reinforces the idea of national participation
within a country a country and creates greater ownership of whatever development
programme a country decides to drive. Financing these programmes will always be a
challenge and a constraint. Use of aid money is not sustainable, as it might create a
dependency syndrome, rather focus for generating funding should be a priority and
should be built on fair trade and investment agreements. International lending, with
strict conditions and accountability could be used as a security buffer to ensure
guaranteed funding.
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1. INTRODUCTION
In September 2000, 189 member states of the United Nations (UN)

represented by their leaders convened a 3 day meeting at the UN
headquarters in New York City which was aptly dubbed the
Millennium Summit. Among other issues, the key discussion points
were centred on defining the major role the UN was to play in the
new century especially with regards to issues of development. There
was a collective agreement of minds in assisting the poorer nations
to achieve better living standards for its people. This agenda resulted
in the drafting of eight chapters of the Millennium Declaration it is
these eight chapters that gave birth to the Millennium Development
Goals (MDG) with a target date of 2015.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), as listed by the UN are

to:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
2. Achieve universal primary education;
3. Promote gender equality and empower women;
4. Reduce child mortality;
5. Improve maternal health;
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
7. Ensure environmental sustainability; and
8. Develop a global partnership for development.
The above goals are each made up of specific targets with

measurable outputs.
2. PROGRAMME FORMULATION
In this report, I will focus on Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and

hunger; and I have identified South Africa’s Reconstruction and
Development Programme (RDP) as a programme intended to
contribute and meet the millennium development goals and targets.
It has to be noted that the RDP is a socio-economic policy developed
by the Africa National Congress (ANC) government of 1994.
According to the ANC website, the RDP policy framework was
developed after intense consultations, discussions and negotiations
with its Tripartite Alliance. The alliance is made up of the South
African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African
Trade Unions (COSATU). The general public was included in these
7
discussion, possibly under existing ANC structures. This raises
credibility of the whole consultation processes in terms of total
inclusivity of the wider civil society.
The RDP programme is multifaceted and can best be represented by

the following components.
Housing: This addresses provision of housing for low-income

citizens.
Clean water: The thrust is provision of clean piped water to all
communities.
Electrification: Provision of electrical energy by connecting houses
to the national electricity grid.
Land reform: Resettlement of families, especially those who were
disadvantaged due to the apartheid era.
Healthcare: Provision of health care services and infrastructure.
Public works: It is a programme mainly administered by the
Department of Public Works that creates employment through road-
construction projects and the installation of water and sanitation
infrastructure.
Of the above listed components, the Public Works programme is

more aligned to Goal 1 of the MDG. Its purpose and intent directly
respond to the targets of Goal 1 as listed by the UN.
Target 1.A:
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose
income is less than $1.25 a day.
Target 1.B:
Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all,
including women and young people.
Target 1.C:
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer
from hunger.
The public works programme has taken many forms and

implemented a number of projects with no clear guidelines and
strategies until the official launch of the Expanded Public Works
Programme (EPWP) in 2004. Although the Department of Public
Works say the EPWP has its origins in the Growth and Development
8
Summit (GDS) of 2003 there had been previous policy frameworks
and strategies that were promoting the creation of employment
through government funded projects that promote development of
previously marginalized communities.
2.1 Programme Analysis

According to the Implementation Protocol document drafted by the
National Department of Public Works, EPWP operates on “an
agreed framework for cooperation and coordination between the
Parties”. The parties to this agreement would be:
 The Minister of Public Works;
 The Premier of the Province concerned; and
 The Executive Mayor or Mayor of the concerned

Municipality.
The EPWP programme is made up of four major sectors in which

employment opportunities are created:
1) Infrastructure sector – roads, water and sanitation projects

through use of labour intensive methods of government-
funded projects;
2) Environmental sector - public environmental programmes;
3) Social sector – creation of employment in social programmes
4) Economic sector – mainly focuses on developing small

businesses through learnership and incubation programmes.
The EPWP was formulated to respond to high levels of

unemployment, lack of essential services and infrastructure in
disadvantaged communities as well as skills training among the
unemployed. EPWP was adopted as a national programme and
its implementation, as previously mentioned, involves different
parties from all three spheres of government. Formulating such a
pivotal framework calls for cautiousness and its design should be
simple and symbiotic to already existing government processes.
The implementation of EPWP is guided by various support

documents and manuals. These are in line with basic principles of
“Best Practice” of programme and/or project management for
developmental projects.
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Common traits of successful developmental projects are:
Continuous community participation

The EPWP Implementation Protocol defines the principles of
cooperation between the parties. These principles encourage
mutual assistance and support in order to ensure the successful
implementation of an EPWP programme/project. The underlying
assumption is that there is “mutual trust and good faith and one
party will take into consideration the impact of their decisions on
the other”. (EPWP Implementation Protocol).
The EPWP Implementation Protocol defines the need of

institutional arrangements as “To facilitate Inter - Governmental
relations and to promote cooperation and coordination between
the Parties in attaining the objectives of the EPWP, the Parties
agree to utilise already existing Inter - Governmental institutions or
to establish new institutions…”
The full complement of stakeholders can best be represented by

the figure below:
Figure 1: EPWP Stakeholder Matrix

Source: CIVN 7020 Class Notes 2015
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Optimised Productivity
Achieving the required production rates involves using appropriate
technology and the right personnel. As the programme’s major
thrust is on employment creation, the recruitment processes is not
restrictive in terms of skills a person needs to possess before
being employed. To address this challenge, EPWP projects have
training and skills development as one of the measurable output.
In order to ensure that the training is diligently done, several
manuals or frameworks, such as the following, have been
published.
 EPWP Training Framework
 EPWP Training Guidelines for EPWP Logistics Meeting
 Cluster Training Approval Committee - Terms of Reference
 Standard Operating Procedures for Short Courses and
Skills Programmes
Training is vital as a skilled workforce can assists in the provision
of improved quality and production and thereby reducing
production costs and delays.
Even though the emphasis of EPWP is on job creation, a fine

balance has to be attained in use of equipment/machinery versus
labour. This is normally addressed by the project managers by
balancing production rates, work effort and desired work output.
The EPWP programme has a published minimum rate of pay
which is generally used as a task-based payment or as an hourly
rate. The task-based payment increases productivity and allows
for adequate planning and scheduling tasks as workers are paid
upon completion of a daily assigned task. The hourly rate is used
for employees working on 8 hour shifts on any assigned or
scheduled work. High supervision levels are required to ensure
tasks are completed on time. Both systems subscribe to the
principle of “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage”. (CIVN 7020
Class Notes 2015).
Appropriate Engineering
Best practice principles demand absolute perfection in balancing
time, cost and quality. EPWP projects are conceived and planned
within the identified geographical area, sphere and sector then the
required resources are made available to ensure the programme
planning is duly completed and capacity to implement is quantified
and developed. From the onset, an EPWP project will be
11
designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated as an EPWP
project. This approach ensures that appropriate engineering
solutions are applied without compromising the project time, cost
and quality. Some of the key principles, in line with appropriate
engineering, that ensure success in EPWP implementation are:
 The rate or speed of implementation is linked to available

capacity, therefore reduces risk of over-promising and
under-delivering on agreed targets. Most EPWP projects
are within communities and delayed delivery of the required
infrastructure might result in unwarranted violent protests
which might destroy already installed infrastructure and
delay the project further.
 Robust institutional arrangements that manage

implementation and addresses all aspects of the project
such as design standards, training manuals and
certification of training.
 Monitoring and evaluation is important as it allows the

programme to be evaluated during implementation rather
than at the end. Corrective action can be taken before the
project time, cost and quality is compromised. Training
offered is also evaluated for its effectiveness and relevancy
on the project.
The EPWP is founded on pillars of government policy, strategies and

plans. It is also supported by sound technical guidelines, manuals
and strategic documents. Its implementation follows a descriptive
process that is well documented in various supporting documents.
The EPWP programme is poised to succeed if it is carried out within
its prescriptive requirements. It already exhibits traits or
characteristics of a successful programme.
It is a national, long term Programme and is not ad hoc

The EPWP was agreed to, at the Growth and Development Summit
(GDS) of June 2003. It is a nationwide programme that covers all
three spheres of government.
The concept and principle of employment creation is captured

in Government Policy
According the Department of Public Works website, “The
Programme is a key government initiative, which contributes to
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Governments Policy Priorities in terms of decent work & sustainable
livelihoods, education, health; rural development; food security &
land reform and the fight against crime & corruption.”
Political and financial backing is guaranteed

The governing party, ANC, has as a principle the statement “Job
creation through public Works Programmes”. EPWP has evolved
from this pronouncement and is seen as key strategy in delivering
basic infrastructure such as water supply, sewerage and roads while
creating employment opportunities for communities. The programme
also provides training and skills development thereby economically
empowering the beneficiaries. Although the Department of Public
Works doesn’t have a ring-fenced budget for funding EPWP projects,
provision has been made through normal budgeting processes that
allocations be made to national departments, provinces and
municipalities.
Understanding of institutional frameworks and creation of

strong institutions that promote the programme
As explained in the previous sections, the EPWP is a programme
which covers all spheres of government departments, entities,
provinces and municipalities. All government institutions have been
given a mandate to ensure that they come up with projects, in a well-
coordinated manner that target the unskilled unemployed.
Department of Public Works is accountable for the overall

coordination of the EPWP programme. However, national
departments have been assigned responsibilities for various sectors
which fall under their domain.
The Department of Public Works is responsible for the infrastructure

sector and it will therefore initiate and coordinate EPWP programmes
in this sector. It will continue on existing initiatives that are already
running in various provinces, such as the:
 Zibambele road maintenance - KwaZulu Natal,
 Gundo Lashu road construction - Limpopo,
 Zivuseni building maintenance - Gauteng,
The Department of Water Affairs oversees labour-intensive

construction of water pipelines. The Department of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism coordinates EPWP in the environment sector
13
and the Department of Trade and Industry oversees EPWP in the
economic sector.
3. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
EPWP programme was officially launched by former President

Thabo Mbeki on 18 May 2004 at Sekhunyani Village, Giyani, in the
Limpopo Province. (Expanded Public Works Programme Five-Year
Report 2004/05 – 2008/09). The official launch was on the backdrop
of an already running labour-intensive programme called “Gundo
Lashu” (Our Victory). This programme mainly involved training local
emerging contractors in labour-intensive road and bridge
construction and maintenance activities. The labour used for these
projects was sourced from local environs, thereby creating work for
the locals.
The programme has been running since then and every year, the
Department of Public Works has managed to produce annual reports
that reflect the programme’s performance and achievements.
The Year 1 report, (2004), speaks of challenges but however it still

affirmed that the programme was on course to meet its job creation
targets. In its infancy, the programme was being seen as Department
of Public Works (DPW) programme/project, a misconception as
EPWP was formulated on government policies, declarations and
strategies. There was also resistance from project managers,
contractors and community members on the use of labour-intensive
methods for implementation of infrastructure. It appears that the
resistance was based on lack of knowledge and understanding on
how to apply appropriate methods, manage the task thereof, and
control cost and quality of the final product. Labour-intensive
methods were also perceived to be difficult and required a lot of
manual effort. To mitigate this perception, the DPW focused on a
number of demonstration projects. They also embarked on a
marketing drive that was aimed at raising awareness of the
programme among implementers and beneficiaries.
3.1 Programme Progress
To best review the progress of the programme, it is only

imperative that one analyses the Expanded Public Works
14
Programme Five-year report (2004/05 – 2008/09) which was titled
“Reaching the one million target”.
The government of 1999 identified unemployment and the

associated poverty as serious threats to the democracy.
Unemployment was estimated to be 40%, furthermore, legacy of
apartheid policies had created an education curricular that
imparted little or no skill at all to the working age people. Thus
EPWP has training as one of its central component as it attempts
to develop or train the employable with skills that empowers them.
Some of the identified training programmes stated in the report
are:
 Adult basic education training (ABET)

 Vocational skills, e.g. Construction and agriculture
 Entrepreneurship
 Project Management
 Project specific skills
 Community development
Source: EPWP Five-Year Report 2004/05 – 2008/09
As already stated, the EPWP programme was launched in 2004

by former President Mbeki and it was in the same year, in his
state of the Nation Address that he announced that, “the
programme would create at least one million work opportunities in
its first five years”.
Funding of EPWP projects was initially provided through the

Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) to local government. From
2004 to 2009, the infrastructure sector received R15 billion
through conditional grants, the environment sector received R4
billion and the social sector was allocated R600 million.
Implementation was largely by provinces and municipalities and
therefore its success or failure hindered on the attained level of
cooperation between these two spheres of government. Other
tools that would play a vital role in EPWP implementation were the
National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and Sector Education
and Training Authorities (SETA’s). It was the Construction
Education and Training Authorities (CETA) that funded the
development of learning standards which covered design,
15
supervision and management of labour-intensive construction for
NQF levels 2, 4, 5 and 7. The training was a pre-requisite if one
wanted to participate in EPWP projects. Guidelines stipulated that
only contractors and consulting engineers who had successfully
undergone this training could be appointed for EPWP projects.
The early five year goal or target was to reduce unemployment by

one million of which 40% was allocated for women, 30% youth
and 2% disabled. The infrastructure sector as the largest
contributor in employment creation within the EPWP programme
was expected to create 900 000 jobs in the first five years. The
infrastructure targets for the same period were 37 000km of new
roads, 31 000km of new pipelines, 1 500km stormwater drains
and 150km walkways. As monitoring and evaluation was expected
during the programme implementation, government developed the
following programme indicators.
INDICATOR DISCRIPTION
Person-days of The number of people who worked on a

Employment project x the number of days each person
Created worked.
Job Opportunities 1 job opportunity = paid work created for an
individual on an EPWP project for any
period of time.
Project Wage The minimum daily wage rate = the daily
wage (whether task-rated or time-rated) per
individual project. This wage rate must be
included in the project tender document at
all times, as per the EPWP Guidelines.
Training Person- the number of people who attended training
Days x the number of days of training
Project Budget The project budget = the price tendered by
the contractor plus the professional fees for
the professional service provider appointed
to design and supervise the project. The
project budget excludes government
management and administration costs.
Actual Expenditure Actual expenditure relates to the
expenditure on the project by the contractor
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INDICATOR DISCRIPTION
plus the expenditure by the professional

service provider appointed to design and
supervise the project. The actual
expenditure excludes expenditure on
government management and
administration.
Demographic The number of workers that fall within the
Characteristics of following categories must be recorded:
Workers  Youth (i.e. 18–35 years of age);
 Women; and
 People with disabilities.
Table 1: Key Programme Indicators

3.1.1 Targets Achieved
According to the report, the set targets for the infrastructure

outputs, that is 37 000km roads, 31 000km pipelines, 1 500km
stormwater drains and 150km walkways have been constructed
using labour intensive methods. This resulted in an increase in the
labour content cost of 5% of project costs to 30%. It further states
that all workers received various skills training on the
implementation of infrastructure using labour-intensive methods.
The success of the EPWP programme in the infrastructure sector
is evidenced by the following five programmes.
1) Technical Support Programme
This programme ensures that Provincial departments and

municipalities are given adequate support in terms of project
implementation. The assistance include project appraisals,
defining project targets and drafting of contract documents.
2) Vuk’uphile Contractor Learnership Programme
The programme focuses on training of beneficiaries to become

NQF level 2 contractors in labour-intensive methods and
supervisors at NQF level 4. By end of the 2009 year, 492
contracting companies had been created, trained and
17
registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property
Registration Office (CIPRO).
Table 2: SMMEs created by Provinces and Municipalities

3) National Youth Service Programme
The programme is intended to provide the youth with life

mentoring and technical skills training that cover the built
environment. Some of the targets achieved are:
 3 654 youths benefited in the 2007/2008 year

 5 175 youths were target for training from 2008/2009
onwards.
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 4 466 trained youths were employed on 90
contracts/projects from the NDPW.
4) Large Projects programme
These projects are defined by the value of their budget which

exceeds R30 million. A number of these projects are being
implemented by provincial departments, metropolitan
municipalities and district municipalities. By the end of the
2008/09 reporting year, the programme had registered 37 340
work opportunities, versus a set target of 15 000.
5) Provincial Roads Programme
The programme focuses on the construction and maintenance

of provincial roads. Technical support is then provided to
ensure that these activities are implemented through labour-
intensive methods and also all principles are in line with EPWP
requirements.
Table 3: SMMEs created by Provinces and Municipalities

To summarise the targets achieved, by the end of 2008/2009

year, the infrastructure sector had created more than one million
jobs thus achieving the set target as pronounced in the former
President Mbeki’s state of the Nation Address. The Economic
sector created a modest 20 514 work opportunities by the end of
the same reporting period.
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3.1.2 Programme Targets and MDGs’
The EPWP programme clearly is achieving its set targets and

objectives but how does it compare or measure up to Goal 1 of
Millennium Development Goals? As discussed earlier, three
targets make up MDG 1 and these are:
 Target 1.A:
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people
whose income is less than $1.25 a day.
 Target 1.B:
Achieve full and productive employment and decent work
for all, including women and young people.
 Target 1.C:
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people
who suffer from hunger.
As presented in the MDG Country Report of 2010, South Africa’s

achievements are not fully meeting some of the MDG targets. The
table below illustrates the progress made in delivering on MDG
targets.
Goal 1 and indicators 1994 Current 2015 target Target

baseline status 2010 achievability
(or closest (or nearest
year) year)
Proportion of population living 11.3 5.0

5.7 Achieved
below $1 (PPP) per day (2000) (2006)
Poverty Gap Ratio ($1 (PPP) 3.2 1.1
1.6 Achieved
per day) (2000) (2006)
Share of poorest quintile in 2.9 2.8
5.8 Unlikely
national consumption (2000) (2006)
Percentage growth rate of 4.7 1.9
GDP per person employed 6 Possible
(2002) (2009)
Employment-to-population 41.5 42.5
Ratio 50 - 70 Unlikely
(2003) (2009)
Proportion of employed 5.2
people living below $1 No Data ≈0 Unlikely
(2000)
(PPP) per day
Proportion of own-account
and contributing family 11 9.9
≈5 Possible
workers in total (2001) (2010)
employment
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Goal 1 and indicators 1994 Current 2015 target Target
baseline status 2010 achievability
(or closest (or nearest
year) year)
Prevalence of underweight 9.3 10.2

children under-five years 4.7 Unlikely
(1994) (2007)
of age (as a percentage)
Proportion of population
below minimum level of No Data No Data No Target Unknown
dietary energy
consumption
Table 4: MDG Facts and Figures

Source: South Africa MDG Country Report, 2010
As shown in Table 4 above, South Africa is meeting Target 1A.

Proportion of population living below $1 (PPP) per day and
Poverty Gap Ratio ($1 (PPP) per day) are essential measures of
absolute poverty. Therefore one can tacitly conclude that South
Africa has managed to reduce the population living below the
poverty line of a $1 per day by more than 50%, thus achieving
MDG1 of halving poverty. The Employment-to-population Ratio is
still low and South Africa has failed to meet the set target and it
also appears that it will miss the 2015 set target. In this regard,
South Africa has not achieved full and productive employment and
decent work for all, including women and young people. (Target
1B). South Africa not likely going to meet Target 1C: Halve,
between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from
hunger. Of the two measures of this target, data has only been
collected, processed and analysed for one, that is, Prevalence of
underweight children under-five years of age (as a percentage).
Unfortunately performance on this measure has been poor hence
the conclusion that Target 1c will not be met.
Considering South African circumstances, there is an intricate

correlation between poverty and unemployment. The EPWP has
created employment but as shown in Table 4, the employment to
population ratio in South Africa since 2001 is low. This ratio clearly
implies there is high level of unemployment in South Africa and
this will lead to increased levels of poverty. The EPWP
programme will perform exceptionally well and meet its targets
and objectives, however it will not deliver the same performance if
21
measured against MDG targets and objectives. Delivering on
MDG targets requires a concerted effort from all government arms
especially in the South African context.
3.2 Programme Review
Fehling, et al takes a view that MDG has serious limitations on

how its framework was formulated and this has led to uneven
progress in all the countries. Some the factors that creates this
limitation are:
 Formulation and adoption of MDG in a country is not
inclusive and only involves a few privileged stakeholders.
 There is no assimilation of a country’s previous
development agenda to the objectives of MDG.
 MDG lacks accountability within government institutions,
that is, there is no overall coordinating department unlike
the EPWP which falls under the auspices of the
Department of Public Works.
Developing countries have signed into the MDG but with less
enthusiasm as anticipated. This lack of interest could be attributed
to lack of funding that normally comes with economic programmes
prescribed by the developed world. E.g. Economic Structural
Adjustment Program (ESAP). MDG’s targets might be simplistic
and holistic but certain countries past legacy creates a barrier in
implementing MDG. There are many salient factors that are at
play in South Africa when it comes to improving the welfare of
people and the eradication of poverty. Apartheid was brutal, it
created and reinforced systems that certain races were inferior
and unprogressive. There was separate sub-standard education
and infrastructure meant for the so called “inferior race”. In the
end, the masses became less educated, less empowered and
perhaps, in their minds they felt less privileged.
How do you then address development issues without looking at

this dark legacy? MDG’s formulation seem to assume that every
country has adequate resources (funding) and capacities to
implement programmes that are geared to delivering MDG. In the
context of South Africa, EPWP is well funded but it still faced
resistance during its initial years of implementation. Manual work
was seen as inferior and this was post-apartheid, when the
22
masses expected instant elevation to superior status. MDGs are
prescriptive and their formulation do not take this history, this
imbalance into account.
In the EPWP five year report, it adopted a programme-oriented

approach evaluation technique. This approach should be able to
tell us the impact EPWP has had in achieving its objectives. The
objectives of EPWP can be summarized as creation of
employment through public infrastructure, environment, economic
and social programmes. These objectives and their respective
measuring tools are as listed below:
Objective Measure
Over the first five years to create Number of total, women, youth and
temporary work opportunities and disabled job opportunities.
income for at least 1 million Person days of work.
unemployed South Africans Average income of EPWP
participants per sector.
To provide needed public goods and Cost of goods and services provided
services, labour-intensively, at to standard in the Infrastructure,
acceptable standards, through the use Environment and Culture and Social
of mainly public sector budgets and Sectors
public and private sector Cost of each job created
implementation capacity.
To increase the potential for at least % of participants at point of exit to
14% of public works participants to secure
earn future income by providing work  Employment
experience, training and information  Education or Training
related to local work opportunities,  A SMME
further education and training and
SMME development.
(14% = Infrastructure 8%, environment
10%, social 40%, economic 30%)
Table 5: EPWP Objectives to be Monitored and Evaluated

Source: Framework for Monitoring and Evaluation of the EPWP,
2005
EPWP’s objectives are therefore a means of poverty alleviation.

The intended beneficiaries are the poorest of the poor. Therefore
the key evaluation mechanism will be to measure the change in
social and economic status of beneficiaries, and assess whether
23
this change is permanent or only temporary. According to the
Framework for Monitoring and Evaluation of EPWP of 2005, the
programme itself was never designed as a policy to deal with the
unemployment crisis. EPWP creates temporary work but the skills
are permanent. It acknowledges this by its nature, it is a short
term intervention plan that will not create sustainable employment
opportunities. The beneficiaries are expected to exit the
programme through a number of exit strategies.
Exit EPWP with work experience

and training after max 2 years
Examples of exit strategies
Unemployed enter
EPWP and obtain - Employment with a new employer
work experience and - Further education and training
training, under special - Better equipped work seeker
conditions of - Self employment
employment - Ongoing employment with same
employer, at normal conditions of
EPWP employment
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
YEAR
Figure 2: EPWP Exit Strategies

Source: CIVN 7020 Class Notes 2015
EPWP contributes positively to the upliftment of its beneficiaries or

target communities through the earning of wages for workers and
provision of essential infrastructure and services. Income earned
enables households to enter the mainstream of the economy as
active participants. As previously shown, this income is not
permanent therefore the crux of the matter will be for the
benefiting household to transition itself out of poverty. The
expectations would be that the income continues through
continued employment with the same employer or new employer
or one becomes self-employed using skills gained during training.
These options, however, are not adequate to respond to a country
with high unemployment levels brought upon by political crisis or
natural disasters. This certainly supports the notion that EPWP is
not a policy that can deal with poverty alleviation, but it does play
a significant role in community upliftment and development.
24
Suppose a country has other robust economic policies that are
stimulating economic growth. With economic growth, comes
opportunities that can easily be accessed by the empowered, that
is the skilled and trained which EPWP is capable of. (Delivering
better equipped work seekers). The success of EPWP making an
impact on upliftment of its host community is therefore to some
extent, reliant on the economic growth of the country. EPWP
through its infrastructure, environment and social sector has
transformed some communities for the better. The previously
marginalised and disadvantaged now have access to water and
sanitation. The physical environment has been improved to create
better communities through improved roads, par and recreational
areas. This transformation can be recorded as an upliftment,
however it is a challenge to draw one conclusive remark on the
success of EPWP. The programme has its shortcomings in terms
of creating permanent employment but it cannot be faltered in this
regard as it was never meant deliver permanent employment.
To fully understand how the achievements of EPWP measure up

to MDG 1, one has explicitly look at the programme’s objectives.
 Creation of temporary work opportunities

As previously shown, this is measured by determining the
total number of people who have accessed an EPWP job
opportunity and derived an income. Direct employment is by
no doubt the cherry of the programme for thousands of the
unemployed. A person earning an income is certainly clawing
out of the grasp of poverty. The minimum published rate of
pay for EPWP work is definitely more than the $1.25 a day
stated in Target 1A of MDG1. This income is temporary
therefore there are no guarantees that beneficiaries who
exited the programme have continued earning more than
$1.25 a day. From a broader perspective, the numbers will
always look good, because at any given point in time, people
are entering the EPWP programme while others exit. As
projects and their budgets become bigger, there will always
be more people entering the programme than those exiting it.
Therefore a steady increase of employment can be achieved
without really transforming the lives of EPWP participants.
This becomes a serious limitation on the performance of the
programme. The onus of permanently escaping the jaws of
poverty becomes the sole responsibility of the beneficiary.
25
While the idea of creating a society of self-reliant individuals is
noble and applauded, it becomes self-defeating if done in this
manner. This objective is therefore about numbers and not
about making a permanent change. It does not have a
provision for reporting on how the beneficiaries exited the
programme but merely presents possible exit strategies.
Reporting would have been complete if numbers were also
provided for the different exit strategies.
 Provision of Public Infrastructure and Services

The provision of infrastructure that delivers essential services
easily contributes to the well-being of communities. The need
for the infrastructure can never be questioned but is it the
immediate priority for the community. In my experience as a
Consulting Engineer for government, I have implemented
road construction projects in a community where there was no
piped water. We faced stiff resistance from the residents and
upon presenting a possible solution to the client (A
Municipality in the North West Province) that included a
scoping report for the area’s developmental needs, we were
reprimanded for departing our appointed mandate and
accused of trying to create further work for our company by
sneaking in a scope increase. Certain projects become more
preferred as they create more job opportunities upon which
politicians can build their political campaigns for the next
elections. There is room for improvement in delivering this
objective. Projects should be duly appraised and identified as
a priority and need with the full participation of intended
beneficiaries. An all-inclusive stakeholder consultation will
help in obtaining the buy-in and the beneficiaries will be
owners of the project thereby eliminating resistance from the
on-set. If stakeholder consultation is not done in the project
identification and appraisal, this objective risk being about
meeting the numbers and box ticking.
 Training and Skills development to beneficiaries

According to EPWP reports, the number of job opportunities
created is higher than the number of beneficiaries who were
trained. This implies that not all employed beneficiaries
underwent training. No clear explanation has been provided
for this discrepancy, save to say those who were trained truly
benefited. The training offered can be used in other future
26
projects therefore this increases chances of beneficiaries
securing employment in the same programme or in the private
sector. Even though the reporting focuses on numbers, this
objective duly transforms the life of a person. A skill or
knowledge gained is personal and can never be lost unless
one loses their sanity. More emphasis should be placed on
this objective as it has a huge potential in changing a person’s
life for the better.
 Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs)

Development
SMMEs are seen as the key to sustainable economic growth.
This objective has seen the emergence of new entrepreneurs
from previously disadvantaged societies. It has been fairly
successful and I would like to think it is more suited to deliver
transformation as compared to other government policies like
the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE).
SMMEs in the infrastructure sector have grown from 1 Civil
Engineering (CE) class of works grading as defined by the
Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) to 5 CE
CIDB grading under the Vuk’uphile programme. Creation of
companies has many positive spin offs for the country. Not
only does it lead to economic growth, but they create more
employment opportunities. This objective can be listed as
immensely contributing to the upliftment of the host
communities. Individuals have been transformed from being
employees to company owners and equipped with right
knowledge and skill.
Overall, two of the EPWP objectives do uplift beneficiaries of their

host communities. The other two objectives’ short coming mainly
lie in the stakeholder participation process. If these are improved
and carried out in line with “Best Practices” principles, they will go
a long way in ensuring credibility for the programme. EPWP
should be seen as a programme for the people and not a tool
used by politicians to obtain political mileage. This is only possible
if a mandatory participation process is done from project feasibility
right until project commissioning and handover.
27
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
South Africa’s country report of 2013 postulates it is on course to

meet a number of objectives that speak to the targets of MDG 1. The
report does list challenges and short comings of how the government
is performing on MDGs. The report identifies MDG 1 as lacking
depth in formulating a standard measure of poverty. The focus of
MDG 1 target is based on a monetary measure and there is no
provision for other interventions at social policy level that aim to uplift
the poor. South Africa has therefore broadened its scope of
capturing development initiatives in order to address this apparent
limitation of MDG 1. This view is supported by Easterly, 2008 who
argues that MDGs are poorly designed to measure progress against
poverty eradication in Africa.
South Africa’s issues of poverty and unemployment are unique in the

sense that they are shaped by its history and political environment.
Therefore, South Africa has created a concoction of policy
interventions that addresses poverty. These interventions are in the
form of a package that intends to reduce the actual cost of living for
the poor. This form of intervention is not measurable under MDG 1
targets reporting. MDG 1 conceptualise poverty reduction as a once
off event in a person’s life and assumes that once a person is
earning an income above the defined threshold, they have made the
transition from being poor to non-poor. There are many underlying
factors that render this concept as poor, one of which is the
employed to non-employed ratio. This ratio shows the number of
employable people living under the support of one employed person
or income. Such scenarios then imply that a person can be earning
an income above the poverty line but their circumstances will result
in chronic poverty.
As the MDG targets are set to expire, the major question is how to
take the MDG agenda forward and ensure continuity of successful
programmes. South Africa has been fairly successful and are on
course to meet MDG 1 targets although not all success and progress
can be attributed to MDGs (Melamed and Scott, 2011). In order to
formulate post 2015 recommendations, I will discuss some of the
MDG weaknesses as identified by the available literature.
28
 MDGs are prescriptive and donor led
MDG goals and targets are formulated on a global scale and
therefore take little or no account of the local context. The goals
and priorities are rigid and not flexible to suit national
circumstances. Participation is minimal and hence they appear
to be driven at national level while they are meant to intervene
at local level.
 MDGs are not inclusive of all developmental issues.

Melamed and Scott, 2011 state that MDGs miss many
dimensions such as climate change, quality of education,
human rights, economic growth, good governance and security.
These are all issues that affect human development that should
be part of the MDG agenda. However, crafting them into MDG
targets will need care as a bludgeoned list of MDG targets
might render agenda ineffective.
 MDGs fail the poor and vulnerable

MDG 1 reporting is about numbers at national level but at local
level, the poorest of the poor remain in their impoverished
state.
There is no doubt that MDGs are a positive influence and have

raised global awareness of development issues. The discussion note
of the United Nations (UN) System Task Team on the Post 2015 UN
Development agenda ascertains that it might difficult to measure and
evaluate the impact MDG has had on human development.
However, it does postulate a positive trend in progress made since
the signing of the MDG declaration. Sustainable economic growth
has been highlighted as key to meeting MDG targets, especially
MDG 1. Whereas lack of political will and guaranteed funding to
MDG programmes has been seen as detrimental to progress. MDGs
have galvanized governments in building a common agenda to the
issues of human development. This strengthens global partnerships
and sends a clear message that, we are in this together.
4.1 Moving Forward – Post 2015
Drawing conclusive remarks based on the strengths and failings

of MDG is a demanding challenge. Unfortunately there is
benchmark or control situation upon which the achievements of
29
MDG can weighed against. What if there was no MDG? Would
progress made in the fight against poverty eradication have been
the same or better? There has never been a collective global
agenda but each country will still have been forced to react to
issues of poverty and human development. Still, the MDG raised
awareness even though they were not tailor made for each
country nor were they comprehensive in addressing each and
every aspect of human development.
The MDG agenda should therefore provide a clear focus on how

to tackle human development. It should still be reporting on
quantifiable targets but the means of approach should be tailor
suited for each country and by that country through its systems
and structures. This reinforces the idea of national participation
within a country a country and creates greater ownership of
whatever development programme a country decides to drive.
Financing these programmes will always be a challenge and a
constraint. Use of aid money is not sustainable, as it might create
a dependency syndrome, rather focus for generating funding
should be a priority and should be built on fair trade and
investment agreements. International lending, with strict
conditions and accountability could be used as a security buffer to
ensure guaranteed funding. Moving forward, post 2015, I will
recommend the following.
1) MDG targets should be reviewed to reflect the current

development problems
The current MDGs targets were drafted after extensive debate
in the late 1990s. (Melamed and Scott, 2011). A lot of
changes that redefine the political and economic landscape
have since occurred. This has given rise to new urgent
priorities that were never captured in the old MDGs targets. In
the 1990s, a lot of developing countries were enjoying a
relatively stable political climate and there was a lot of
optimism that economic growth would continue unhindered.
But post 2015 is likely to be quite volatile. Climate change is
now a serious threat and could derail the human development
agenda. Essential natural resources, such as water are in
depletion and the existing water sources have been polluted
so much that the cost of reparations are astronomical.
Therefore a post 2015 MDG agenda should address the
following:
30
 Climate change
It should be inclusive of climate changes in terms of
ensuring environmental sustainability as well as defining a
policy position on threats that stem from climate change.
 Inequality and chronic poverty

As indicated in the previous section of this report,
increased income does not secure a gate-pass out of the
clutches of poverty. There are a lot of social, cultural and
economic factors that are at play. (Melamed and Scott,
2011). MDGs have to be more vocal on issues of equality
as this will ensure progress will be achieved among all the
targeted groups.
 Urban migration
There has been explosive urban migration. These
movements put a strain on a city’s infrastructure and
services. They might be an attempt to deal with urban
migration outside the context of poverty eradication. This
could lead to a deviation from the defined programme or
resources might be constrained forcing the government to
deal with the immediate problem on the ground while
reducing resources dedicated to the long term development
agenda.
2) MDG should be built on extensive consultations

The MDG 2000 agenda was built on engagements at a global
level. However, post 2015 there is need to ensure consensus
and ownership at regional and national level. The MDG
agenda can be used as a foundation upon which regional and
national developmental policies are built. This approach
ensures consistency and continuity within any democratic
nation in the event that there is a change in government.
3) MDG target setting to consider disparities

MDGs have a design flaw in how they measure progress on
poverty eradication and it is this design flaw that makes Africa
look worse than it really is (Easterly, 2008). Although the MDG
can retain the format of solid goals, targets and indicators, the
process of target setting should be flexible to take into
account a country’s perceived political, economic and cultural
environment. The timeframe of 15 years, though acceptable,
31
the new agenda should allow for major reviews at, say 5 year
intervals. This allows minor targets to be set and any failures
or challenges are identified and dealt with within a shorter
time span. As discussed before, MDG should have more
flexibility in target setting as these will be defined based on
current, regional and national realities.
4) Population growth
It is expected that there will be population growth and rapid
urbanization. These demographic dynamics come with their
own pressures. A post 2015 MDG agenda should be
cognisant of such challenges and therefore the targets should
be relevant and realistic to the setting of any nation.
32
REFERENCES
CIVN 7020 Class Notes 2015
Department of Public Works, EPWP, (2009), Expanded Public Works

Programme five-year report; 2004/05 – 2008/09.
Department of Public Works, EPWP, (2005), Framework for

Monitoring and Evaluation of the Expanded Public Works
Programme.
Department of Public Works, EPWP, (2004), Consolidated

Programme Overview and Logical Framework.
Easterly, W., (2008), How the Millennium Development Goals are

Unfair to Africa.
Fehlinga, M., Nelsonb, B.D. & Venkatapuramd, S. (2013), Limitations

of the Millennium Development Goals: a literature review.
Melamed, C. & Scott, L. (2011), After 2015: progress and challenges

for development.
The Republic Government of South Africa, (2013), Millennium

Development Goals Country Report: 2013.
The Republic Government of South Africa, (2010), Millennium

Development Goals Country Report: 2010.
The Republic Government of South Africa, (Undated), EPWP

Implementation Protocol: 2009 – 2014.
United Nations, (2014), The Millennium Development Goals Report

2014.
United Nations System Task Team on the Post – 2015 UN

Development Agenda, (2012), Discussion Note, Review of the
contributions of the MDG Agenda to foster development: Lessons for
the post-2015 UN development agenda.
33
Internet Articles
http://www.anc.org.za/, CITED 2 May 2015
http://www.epwp.gov.za/, CITED 30 April 2015
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Summit, Cited 4 May 2015
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/, CITED 1 May 2015
34

CIVN 7020 Project - Millennium Development Goals-Thomas Chongo

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CIVN 7020 Project - Millennium Development Goals-Thomas Chongo

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPING AREAS

ASSIGNMENT: Millennium Development Goals

NAME OF STUDENT: Thomas Chongo

STUDENT NUMBER: 481123

DEPARTMENT: Civil and Environmental Engineering

COURSE: CIVN7020: Project Management in Developing Areas

COURSE LECTURER: Dr Anne Fitchett

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 11 May 2015

 Discuss the implementation of the project/programme, commenting on its success in

 Critique the effectiveness of the project/programme from a broad developmental

 Comment on whether it is likely that the project/programme is a priority of the beneficiary

LIST OF SYMBOLS ....................................................................................................... iv

AIDS – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

In September 2000, 189 member states of the United Nations (UN)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG), as listed by the UN are

The above goals are each made up of specific targets with

In this report, I will focus on Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and

The RDP programme is multifaceted and can best be represented by

Housing: This addresses provision of housing for low-income

Of the above listed components, the Public Works programme is

The public works programme has taken many forms and

2.1 Programme Analysis

 The Minister of Public Works;

 The Premier of the Province concerned; and

 The Executive Mayor or Mayor of the concerned

The EPWP programme is made up of four major sectors in which

1) Infrastructure sector – roads, water and sanitation projects

2) Environmental sector - public environmental programmes;

3) Social sector – creation of employment in social programmes

4) Economic sector – mainly focuses on developing small

The EPWP was formulated to respond to high levels of

The implementation of EPWP is guided by various support

Continuous community participation

The EPWP Implementation Protocol defines the need of

The full complement of stakeholders can best be represented by

Figure 1: EPWP Stakeholder Matrix

Even though the emphasis of EPWP is on job creation, a fine

 The rate or speed of implementation is linked to available

 Robust institutional arrangements that manage

 Monitoring and evaluation is important as it allows the

The EPWP is founded on pillars of government policy, strategies and

It is a national, long term Programme and is not ad hoc

The concept and principle of employment creation is captured

Political and financial backing is guaranteed

Understanding of institutional frameworks and creation of

Department of Public Works is accountable for the overall

The Department of Public Works is responsible for the infrastructure

 Zibambele road maintenance - KwaZulu Natal,

 Gundo Lashu road construction - Limpopo,

 Zivuseni building maintenance - Gauteng,

The Department of Water Affairs oversees labour-intensive

EPWP programme was officially launched by former President

The Year 1 report, (2004), speaks of challenges but however it still

3.1 Programme Progress

To best review the progress of the programme, it is only

The government of 1999 identified unemployment and the

 Adult basic education training (ABET)

As already stated, the EPWP programme was launched in 2004

Funding of EPWP projects was initially provided through the

The early five year goal or target was to reduce unemployment by

Person-days of The number of people who worked on a

plus the expenditure by the professional