To implement a road maintenance program employing the maximum number of people from the local community.
The Zenzele Road Maintenance Programme aims to create long term job opportunities for local communities. The programme is an initiative of the Community Based Public Works Programme (CBPWP) and aims to improve the existing roads infrastructure by employing community members to conduct routine and periodic road maintenance.
The CBPWP works with municipalities to identify operational areas and set up projects. Projects in these operational areas are supervised by contracted Zenzele project managers. Local community participation is facilitated by the CBPWP through community meetings.
Approximately 12 - 25 Community Development Workers (CDWs) are employed by the CBPWP for a 12 month period for each project. The CBPWP conducts a skills audit of prospective CDWs and appointments are strongly gender and youth-focused. CDWs are contracted to work for 60 hours per month and are provided with bicycles to access their work areas.
Work activities include clearing alien vegetation, cleaning drains and culverts, removing litter and foreign objects from roads, repairing potholes and washing roads signs and hazard plates. Workers also report major repairs. Each worker is allocated approximately 1km of road.
The CBPWP provides roads maintenance training for CDWs as well additional life skills and HIV/AIDS awareness training. Social Facilitators monitor CDWs and aim to identify future opportunities for them such as additional training, placement or entrepreneurial opportunities.