Thesis (MTech. degree in Business Administration)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. / The extant microfinance literature provides an array of paradigms on microfinancial services delivery. The Ohio Paradigm advocates for the packaging and provision of microfinancial services along ordinary market practices in which there are both buyers and sellers of services. As such, the poor are not considered as mere beneficiaries but only as clients or at least a segment of financial services market.This study stems from the need to broaden the scope of research on this growing sector, which in comparison to other developing nations is fairly young. The aim of this research was to investigate the applicability of the Ohio Paradigm in South Africa as well as its impact on eventuating sustainable grass root financial systems.