Public work programs (PWPs) gained increasing recognition among governments and
international development agencies for their contributions towards women’s
empowerment, combining aspects of (1) job creation, (2) skills development, (3) income
generation, (4) service provision, and (5) credit from social protection into a single
scheme. Of particular interest to the PWP community, consisting of development
agencies, government agencies, donors, policy makers, community-based organisations,
planners and evaluators, is the extent to which a social care agenda increases the gender
responsiveness of PWPs in the Global South. I seek to investigate the above issue through
examining the unique case of South Africa’s home community-based care (HCBC)
programme, a social care service implemented as part of South Africa’s Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP).