This thesis studies the effects of specific community- driven developer programmes run in Evaton West over the past three years (200011 to 200314) on poverty in the area. These programmes were targeted at poverty reduction and community development in Evaton West, driven by the Eindhoven municipality and COL~AP~A'@. The relationship between the Eindhoven Municipality and the Ernfuleni Municipality started as a result of the twinning of Tilburg and Eindhoven cities in the Netherlands with the erstwhile LekoaNaal Local Metropolitan Council. Evaton West was chosen as a pilot site for Eindhoven to run practical IDP programmes at, as an example of what can be achieved from properly run community-based programmes. COL~AP~Aw' as introduced to Evaton West by the Vaal University of Technology's Community Service department. Its programmes were aimed at poverty alleviation through small-scale business initiatives coupled with leadership training in the area. The approach in the thesis is to define poverty, measure it and determine the profile of the poor. This is done firstly employing household-level indicators and secondly employing community-level indicators. At household level, some of the following tools are used: the poverty line (HSL), headcount index, the poverty gap, dependency ratio, the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient. Unemployment is also used to determine poverty levels. At community level, the thesis employs tools such as community characteristics, community assets, principal services, education, health and environmental issues. The thesis ends with specific recommendations. In particular, formation of co-operatives and the introduction of the basic income grant (BIG) are proposed. The thesis shows that compared to Bophelong, which is approximately similar to Evaton West in terms of age and composition of residents (especially based on age analysis), Evaton West is worse-off judging by poverty and welfare at household level. It proposes that one of the problems is Evaton West's geographical displacement. The thesis also shows that compared to three years ago, Evaton west is marginally better-off judging from the community indicators applied. It ascribed such improvement to the application of the above-stated community-driven development projects in Evaton West. Finally, the thesis suggests that one of the major solutions in dealing with poverty is to consider small-scale, home-based industries that allow for easy entry. Such projects can only succeed if they are approached in an integrated manner in which local authorities are fully involved. Labour absorption capacity of large industries is declining. This forces policy-making to be redirected to alternative sources of employment. The thesis contributes ways in which community-driven development programmes may be assessed at household and community levels. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2004.

Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

South Africa, like international countries, has been experiencing an increase in the levels of poverty over the years. Poverty affects vulnerable groups of society more intensely and these groups include children, the old, disabled people and women, especially those who are single parents. This dissertation studies the role social grants have on the level of poverty in households of Sharpeville. This study focuses on two areas namely the theoretical background of poverty and social grants; and what the impact is of income from social grants. The South African government provides its citizens with eight different social grants to help those in need and/or vulnerable. From these social grants only six are investigated for the purpose of this study. These grants include the old age grant, child dependency grant, foster care grant, child support grant, disability grant and the war veteran grant. Poverty is defined as the inability to attain a minimal material standard of living by the World Bank. The different indicators used in this study to profile poor households in Sharpeville include the Household Subsistence Level (HSL) as the poverty line, the poverty gap ratio, the headcount index and the dependency ratio. This dissertation shows that poverty within the township has increased over the five years. And to do this the results from the data survey conducted in 2009 are compared to the results from Sekatane‘s 2004 data. The poverty gap ratio and the headcount index for the township in 2009 were estimated at 0.86 and 0.654 respectively. In the year 2004 the headcount index was estimated at 0.431 indicating a 22.3 percent increase in the number of people living in poverty. This means that an estimated 5 477 households in Sharpeville, in 2009, were regarded to be poor When government grants are excluded from the household‘s income within the township both the poverty gap ratio and the headcount index decrease to 0.93 and 0.705 respectively. This means that when government grants are excluded from households‘ income within Sharpeville, the depth of poverty within household‘s increases. The income from government grants might be regarded as minimal, however it assists in moving households further from the poverty line. This study recommends that activities within the informal sector should be encouraged as this will increase employment opportunities for those unemployed in the township. As the vast majority of the unemployed people have skills from trading/retail sector; employment creation should be focused in this sector. Lastly, the income threshold used in the means test equation to check affordability of social grant applicant should be decreased as people meeting the current criteria are already living in dire poverty. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011

Foreign aid has been used on the one hand by donors as an important international relations policy tool and on the other hand by developing countries as a source of funds for development. Since its inception in the 1940s, foreign aid has been one of the most researched topics in development economics. This study adds to this growing aid effectiveness literature, with a particular focus on the under-researched relationship between foreign aid and extreme poverty. The main empirical assessment is based on a sample of 120 developing countries from 1981 to 2013. The study had two main objectives, namely: (i) to estimate the impact of foreign aid on poverty reduction and (ii) to examine the direction of causality between foreign aid and poverty in developing countries. From these two broad objectives, there are six specific objectives, which include to: (i) examine the overall impact of foreign aid (total official development assistance) on extreme poverty, (ii) investigate the impact of different proxies of foreign aid on the three proxies of extreme poverty, (iii) assess whether political freedom (democracy) or economic freedom enhances the effectiveness of foreign aid, (iv) compare the impact of foreign aid on extreme poverty by developing country income groups, and (v) examine the direction of causality between extreme poverty and foreign aid. To achieve these objectives, the study employed two main dynamic panel data econometric estimation methods, namely the systemgeneralised method of moments (SGMM) technique and the panel vector error correction model (VECM) Granger causality framework. While the SGMM was used to assess the impact of foreign aid on extreme poverty, the panel VECM Granger causality was used to examine the direction of causality between foreign aid poverty. The SGMM was used because of its ability to deal with endogeneity by controlling for simultaneity and unobserved heterogeneity, whereas the panel VECM was preferred because the variables were stationary and cointegrated. / Economics / D. Phil. (Economics)