Hundreds of youth who formed part of a multimillion-rand skills project that President Jacob Zuma personally launched, have been languishing at home with nothing to do for seven months.

The 800 unplaced War on Leaks project's trainees have been getting their R1500 stipends each month from the Department of Water and Sanitation, despite doing nothing.

This means the department, currently in the news for allegedly being broke, would have paid roughly R8.4-million to the unplaced trainees by the end of this month.

The trainees were supposed to be placed in municipalities or private companies.

Sowetan gathered that Rand Water, the project's implementing agency, failed to place the youth for practical training after they completed their theoretical studies in July last year.

Zuma's spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga referred Sowetan to the water and sanitation department. Department spokesman Sputnik Ratau said there were 800 youths who still had nowhere to train.

He said the cohort are part of 3000 enlisted for phase one of the project in 2015.

All 1500 enrolled as water agents had been placed, and just 700 of 1500 artisans had been located to workplaces.

Ratau said they were working hard to ensure placement of all trainees.

"Rather than to sit back, a great deal of work has been done to date and we are confident that in the next two to three weeks all remaining learners will be placed," he said.

He said the stipends are paid as part of the contractual agreement Rand Water has with the trainees.

"Rand Water intends to make up any lost time with some learners through an expedited process."

Rand Water spokesman Justice Mohale confirmed the figures supplied by Ratau. "We are confident that all remaining learners will be placed soon."

Zuma launched War on Leaks in 2015 at the Dan Qeqe Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. It would train 15000 artisans and plumbers to fix leaking taps and pipes in communities.

He maintained water leaks cost the government R7-billion annually. In his State of the Nation Address earlier this month, Zuma urged municipalities to support the programme.

A 31-year-old from the Nkangala district in Mpumalanga, who asked not to be named, told Sowetan their problems started after they had completed theory.

"Since then, we've been sitting at home. They keep on promising us that we'll be placed to do our practicals," he said.

"But we get our R1500 stipends without fail each month. This shows the project was flawed from the start."

The youth feared the three-year contract he signed in 2015 would lapse without him ever being placed.

In an SMS sent on January 27, Rand Water sought to allay the trainees' fears.

"Please be aware that Rand Water is working tirelessly to secure placements for trainees that are not yet placed," it told them.

"Engagements with various companies have and will continue to take place to address the placement challenge.

"Rand Water is aware of the frustrating nature of this challenge and will continue to work determinedly to ensure that it is resolved."

Rand Water officials met Mpumalanga trainees last week, and again promised to solve the issue. This is according to a youngster from Mbombela.

"We are all hoping to be placed soon. If we're not, the government's money and our time would have gone to waste," he said.

Another Nkangala youth said the R1500 stipend meant nothing to him, saying he joined the project to get skills.

"It's pointless getting this stipend while your life isn't going anywhere. A stipend isn't for enjoying. It's for us to use to get to training."