Is Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge flying a kite - or will the government deliver the promised 500000 jobs by December?

Is Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge flying a kite - or will the government deliver the promised 500000 jobs by December?

Last week Doidge told a media briefing in Parliament that he was "confident" government would have created 500000 work opportunities by December.

He claimed that his Expanded Public Works Programme had created 223568 jobs since April this year, and that there were a further 80000 jobs still being "verified".

"Are we confident about the 500000 jobs? I'll tell you for the third time, yes we are," Doidge said.

But yesterday a Sunday paper quoted President Jacob Zuma admitting that his government was unlikely to meet the promise he made to create 500000 jobs by next month.

"Given the manner in which we are shedding jobs, we will welcome any number of job opportunities created. Even 100000 job opportunities can be considered a success."