444 PEP Participants Started Work

All 444 participants of the PEDI Presidential Employment Programme (PEP) recently gathered together for the first time at the Philippi Village amphitheater.

The PEP participants are deployed in five clusters — Safety, Cleaning, Farming & Composting, Placemaking & Beautification, and Information — and recruitment happened in two phases: a first cohort of 284 local residents who started work at the end of January; and a second cohort of 160 who started at the beginning of March.

The aim of the PEP is to alleviate COVID’s impact on communities with high unemployment rates through short-term employment opportunities, and the message of the day was, “It is time for change in Philippi and we have the opportunity to be change-makers!”