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In the first of what will be a rapid province-wide rollout, a cutting edge biometric and facial recognition system went live at the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg this morning, 5 December 2018.

The new identification system for the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) will in the next three months completely overhaul the way Gauteng runs government’s critical poverty alleviation programme.

Speaking to a group of around 60 EPWP workers, smartly dressed in their signature orange overalls, Gauteng MEC for the Department of Infrastructure Development (DID), Jacob Mamabolo, said corruption was one of the most significant issues bedevilling the efficient administration of the programme across South Africa. “The Attorney General has consistently raised this problem, and it has been brought to my attention time and time again by workers themselves,” he said. The manual system we used previously to enrol workers and track time worked was open to widespread abuse. “Too often it was cooked, manipulated and corrupted,” he said.
 
Displaying the ATM-style kiosks fitted with the latest face recognition and fingerprint technology, he explained how the new Identification System would not only “root out corruption” and “clean up EPWP,” but also benefit beneficiaries.  The system biometrically verifies the identity of every EPWP beneficiary, records their attendance on site, the hours worked – and ultimately generates payment reports.

“A huge frustration for all our EPWP workers is that they are often left in the dark about how much is due to them at the end of the month,” he said. Every beneficiary will now be required to clock-in and clock-out through the biometric identification terminals, and this will bring “complete transparency”. Likening the terminals to an ATM where “you deposit hours,” he said workers would be able to request electronic printouts showing their banked hours. “You will never again be at the mercy of any official when it comes receiving your due stipend,” he told the excited group.
 
“Ghost workers, using false identification documents to register, is another massive problem for EPWP and we wanted to address that head-on in Gauteng," he said.
“Just last week we saw EPWP workers in Tshwane protest because they said a councillor was fraudulently enrolling friends and relatives. Every time this kind of abuse is allowed to take place, it denies another deserving person an opportunity”.
 
“We will now also be able to root out the practice of duplicate beneficiaries where people fraudulently register at multiple sites,” Mamabolo explained.
“All these loopholes are now closed because our biometric system conducts data verification to pick up duplicate beneficiaries and ensures that every person who is enrolled is not only South African citizen but meets all the other EPWP requirements.”
 
He said this latest technology innovation on the part of GDID was in line with Premier David Makhura’s vision to drive Transformation, Modernisation and Industrialisation in the Gauteng Provincial Government.
 
 
Issued by the Department of Infrastructure Development