A space for shared learning
“We are working on the premise that there is no shortage of work to be done to address the many social problems in our society.”President Cyril Ramaphosa
Where evidence of Public Employment meets policy and practice
Employment matters too much to leave to markets alone.
Where markets fail to create enough work, public employment can unlock the social value of labour — delivering public and social goods South Africa urgently needs. Public Employment Research Hub (PEP Research Hub) brings together rigorous evidence, lived experience, and dialogue to improve policy and practice.
What is the added value of participation in work?The founding research question.
Work for the Common GoodPeople · communities · climate · economy · good practice
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Rigorous evidence
Independent, multidisciplinary research that starts from real policy and implementation questions.
Research02
Shared learning
Dialogue across researchers, government, practitioners, civil society, students and development partners.
The Hub03
Actionable insight
Knowledge designed to travel — from field experience and data into programme design, implementation and policy.
Policy & practiceCalls & opportunities
Research funding and collaboration opportunities.
Research funding and collaboration opportunities will be published here as calls become available.
The Public Employment constellation
One evidence hub, connected to many programmes and functions.
The Hub connects evidence across the interventions in the public employment landscape, distilling the social value created and supporting policy dialogue and practice.
Long-standing public employment programmes
Expanded Public Works Programme EPWP
Community Work Programme CWP
Presidential Employment Stimulus initiatives
Social Employment Fund SEF
Basic Education Employment Initiative BEEI
National Youth Service NYS
This overview highlights examples across the public employment landscape. The Hub's research is independent and spans programmes and implementing institutions.
Great evidence depends on dialogue.
Join researchers, practitioners, policymakers, students and civil society in a shared effort to understand and improve the social value of work in the context of public employment.
About the Hub
A research and learning platform shaping the future of public employment.
Public Employment Research Hub (PEP Research Hub) brings researchers, policymakers, practitioners, students and development partners together to deepen understanding of how public employment promotes work for the common good, and creates value for people, communities, the economy and the planet.
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The goal
Deepen understanding of the contributions and potential of Public Employment Programmes in South Africa.
The founding concept is a multidisciplinary research programme focused on the social, economic and environmental contributions of public employment, enriching academic understanding while producing actionable insights for policy and practice.
Governance
Grounded in academic independence, connected to policy and practice.
PEP Research Hub is hosted and supported by the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town. The Hub was established through a partnership involving SALDRU, Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), and the Presidential Employment Stimulus, and approved by the National Research Foundation (NRF) in 2026.
Principal Investigator
Shirin Motala
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC)
Principal Investigator
Murray Leibbrandt
Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU)
Principal Investigator
Kate Philip
Presidential Employment Stimulus
Why now?
Public employment is being asked to do more.
Three major shifts have changed the role of public employment in our society.
Public employment has expanded
South Africa has a long history of public employment programmes (PEPs) through Expanded Public Works Programme and Community Work Programme. In 2020, the Presidential Employment Stimulus has taken public employment and livelihood support to unprecedented scale during and after the Covid-19 shock.
Labour markets are changing
Severe unemployment, slow formal job creation, technological change and the climate transition raise new questions about the role, design and value of publicly-funded work.
Social protection has shifted
With new forms of income support for working-age unemployed people, the case for PEPs increasingly turns on the added value of participation in work, not income support alone.
Our approach
Meeting policy challenges with cross-disciplinary thinking and inclusive dialogue.
Policy relevance
Research priorities emerge from policy challenges, implementation experience and stakeholder dialogue, while academic rigour and independence are safeguarded.
Work across disciplines
The challenges surrounding work, unemployment and social value cannot be understood from a single disciplinary perspective.
Inclusive dialogue
Knowledge is shaped by exchange among researchers, government, civil society, practitioners, and participants in public employment.
The Hub scope
One hub, complementary functions.
PEP Research Hub aims to fulfil a variety of complementary functions across research, evidence, policy dialogue, qualitative understanding and programme design.
PEP
Research Hub
Research Hub
EPWP
CWP
PES
SEF / SEN Commons
PEP Reform
National Youth Service
BEEI
Illustrative constellation only. Position and distance do not imply hierarchy, governance or formal relationships; positioning should be confirmed with partners.
Hub functions
The Hub connects research, learning and practice.
Generate rigorous, multidisciplinary evidence on the value, design and potential of public employment.
Our work
Understanding the social value of work — and the design choices that unlock it.
Public Employment Programmes (PEPs) are a vital response to structural unemployment. Their contribution can extend beyond income into public goods, skills, pathways, wellbeing, local economies and environmental value — but those outcomes depend on programme design and implementation.
The role of work in PEPs
Work can create value that markets do not price.
PEPs can deliver public and social goods that markets under-provide — from education and care to environmental restoration and community development — while strengthening work experience, skills and livelihoods.
Additionally, public employment has had a chequered history internationally, including poor labour conditions, stigma and low-quality assets or services. The research agenda is explicitly interested in what works, what does not, and why.
Research agenda
Four dimensions of value with one cross-cutting question.
PEP Research Hub focuses on four dimensions of the added value of work, with an interest in good practices that can maximise impact.
Theme 01The added value of participation in work
For people
Meaningful work can support wellbeing, self-worth, social inclusion, skills, capabilities and networks — creating value beyond income security alone.
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Good practices to create value
Programme design, implementation, technology and public-private collaboration.
Programme design, implementation, technology and public-private collaboration.
How the hub works
From evidence to better public employment.
The Hub connects programme evidence, research, qualitative case studies and inclusive dialogue so that learning can translate into better policy, programme design and implementation.
Programmes and lived experience
Disaggregated programme data, field learning, participant experience and implementation practice shape research questions.
Research & synthesis
Multidisciplinary research and comparative evidence are produced in the form of working papers and policy briefs.
Dialogue
Knowledge is disseminated through webinars, seminars, workshops, and a Hub that tests findings against reality.
Policy & practice
Evidence and examples of good practice provide the foundation for decisions, design choices and programme implementation and iterations.
The Research Hub
While generating new research, the Hub consolidates existing research investigating the dimension of social value of work in the context of public employment.
Research hub
Public employment research and evidence, gathered in one place.
Explore selected publications examining the social value of work and the design of public employment programmes. More research and tools will be added as they become available.
The social value of work: a case study of Public Employment Programmes in Orange Farm, South Africa
Research on the social value of work in the context of Public Employment Programmes in Orange Farm, South Africa.
Support scaffolding: A conceptual framework for how public employment programmes promote livelihoods in South Africa
A conceptual framework examining how public employment programmes can promote livelihoods in South Africa.
Stimulus effects of a large public employment programme
Research on the stimulus effects of a large public employment programme.
No resources match those filters.
Lived experience as research evidence.
Qualitative case studies, interviews and research-linked multimedia can deepen the evidence base — showing how public employment is experienced, what value it creates, and where programme design matters.
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A research-driven case study library.
Highlighting the lived experience of programmes and their connection to research questions and themes.
Work, dignity and wellbeing
Participant-centred stories can explore value beyond income — with a consented pull-quote, programme context and place.
Public value in communities
Case studies can show how work creates social goods — care, education, food security, public spaces and community development.
Work in a changing climate
Case studies can connect work to mitigation, adaptation, ecological restoration, biodiversity and the just transition.
Local economic effects
Case studies can trace wage spend, enterprise activity, demand effects and pathways into broader economic participation.
Practice worth sharing
A space for programme design, technology, partnership models and other examples of excellence worth sharing.
Research as it happens
Short, edited field reflections can keep the site alive between formal publications and help surface questions worth deeper research.
Qualitative interview / recorded conversation
Research-linked voices from the field.
Interviews, event audio and podcasts can sit alongside transcripts, speakers and related research questions or findings.
Audio and transcript to be added
News & events
Stay connected with the Hub
Attend webinars and policy dialogues on public employment research, and explore research funding calls and opportunities for researchers and students.
News & opportunities
Follow the research and the conversation.
Upcoming calls, events and new research announcements will appear here once the details have been confirmed. In the meantime, follow PEP Talk for public employment news, commentaries and research.
Follow PEP Talk on WhatsApp ↗Explore data
Research is stronger when the evidence is visible, connected and explorable.
The long-term ambition is to connect the Hub to disaggregated public employment evidence — enabling users to move from national patterns to programmes, themes, places, research and stories.
Click a point
In the final product, a locality could open programme, thematic, output and research context — and link to relevant stories and resources.
Evidence layer in development · verified programme data to be connected
Potential data sources
Designed for a constellation, not a silo.
The evidence layer is designed to connect programmes and related initiatives across the wider public employment landscape.
Programme / locality / thematic evidence.
Programme / locality / thematic evidence.
Cross-programme evidence and policy context.
Granular programme evidence, research and knowledge outputs.
Evidence synthesis and reform questions across PEPs.
Explicitly raised as another programme that could be included in the wider landscape.
Get involved
Are you interested in the social value of work? You’re in the right place
Join the conversation, stay in the loop on research and opportunities, and help connect rigorous evidence to the realities of public employment in South Africa.
Researchers
Contribute research, collaborate across disciplines and test questions against policy and practice.
Students
Discover research questions, opportunities and existing literature. If your research question is relevant to the work of the Hub, you can motivate for a research clinic.
Practitioners
Bring implementation knowledge, field experience and examples of good practice into the research conversation.
Policy + civil society
Use evidence, challenge assumptions, shape relevant questions and help translate findings into decisions.
Join the Research Hub
Shape the evidence we need.
Researchers, students, research institutions, practitioners, policymakers and civil society can all contribute to the Research Hub.
Get involved
Connect with the PEP Research Hub
We welcome researchers, students, practitioners, policy colleagues and civil society participants. For now, PEP Talk is the most reliable public channel for research updates and opportunities.
Research clinic requests and direct enquiries will open once the appropriate intake process and contact address have been confirmed.
Follow PEP Talk on WhatsApp ↗