The Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu (INK) area has been the main concern of the eThekwini Municipality. This area has been marked for its poverty and crime rate which is very high and has a bigger population. In terms of the eThekwini Municipality’s Intergrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Local Economic Development (LED) this area needs to fight poverty through providing sustainable programmes that will lead to economic growth and development thus changing the lives of many. There are policies and strategies that the government has embarked on to fight poverty and unemployment in the country but still this pandemic is growing. This study looked at how government has intervened in this community through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). This programme is intended for those people who have no employment or any source of income and its aim is to reach the poorest of the poor anywhere in the country. A sample was chosen through the purposeful method from a population frame of all people in the INK area who had worked in the EPWP. The researcher also used community leaders in the area who had been directly involved in the programme. The researcher obtained data from primary sources, which are individuals that were involved in the study. The researcher used both self-administered questionnaires and structured interviews for this study. The interviews were conducted with the community and community leaders. The questionnaires comprised of open-ended and closed-ended questions. The reason for using open-ended questions was to allow respondents a chance to give their opinions and make useful comments. The results are indicative of government strides to reduce poverty. The impact of the programme seems positive. This is mainly because of the knowledge and skills that the beneficiaries gained during the programme. The issue of job creation is still a major challenge in terms of addressing poverty in the INK area. / Thesis (MPA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

This study explores the dynamics of employment and poverty in South Africa. Specifically, it is aimed at understanding, over time, the change in household well-being that occurs as a result of the employment types of household members. Secondly, the study explores the relationship between household worker combination and self employment activities, in other words, what are the odds of a household getting better as a result of income accrued from self-employment activities and how is this linked, if at all, to employment of other members of the household. This study will contribute to the debate on poverty and the labour market and that on the relationship between the formal and informal economies. The study relied on secondary data analysis from the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Survey. Instead of establishing a poverty line, the entire distribution was ranked on the basis of deciles. Decile transitions were then established with respect to household worker combinations and participation in self-employment activities. The analysis of the data revealed a range of worker types. The dominant household worker combinations have workers in regular employment, casual employment, selfemployment, and the unemployed. The number of people following the self-employment route is generally low despite the substantial number of people who remain unemployed. Seemingly, self-employment is not a desirable destination. The period 1993-1998 saw little variation with respect to household worker type. Though the number of regularly employed workers increased during the same period, there were an equally considerable number of unemployed people. The general trend shows few people assuming regular or formal work employment. This trend could not bring about a significant change in total income decile transition and hence a change in household wellbeing. With respect to self-employment, most activities are associated with households with at least a regularly employed member. In a majority of cases, there is a close association between self-employment and workers in the formal economy. The relationship suggests an intra-household transfer of resources to self-employment initiatives or the fact that households participate in self-employment activities in an effort to supplement income from regular employment that is inadequate to meet household needs. There was little variation in household rank order between the two years. It was therefore increasingly difficult for households to experience a change in income, at least, as expressed by their decile transitions. Households with regularly employed members had a greater chance of improving their decile transition. Income from labour earnings therefore played a substantial role in determining the change in household welfare. Though households engaged in a range of self-employment activities, income from these activities had little impact with respect to decile transitions. Income from selfemployment is therefore inadequate to bring about a meaningful change in total household income. In conclusion, the study notes that household welfare and its improvement is dependant upon the employment types of its members. It therefore calls into question the expectation that the unemployed and those in unstable employment should subsist on their own. Secondly, there is a close linkage between the informal economy (i.e. selfemployment) and the formal economy. In light of the links between the two economies, the analysis of the informal economy as a separate entity needs revision. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2004.

This dissertation examines issues related to KwaZulu-Natal's "unbanked" and poor populations and details efforts by Ithala Limited, a government-backed development finance institution (DFI) acting as a subsidiary of the more broad-based Ithala Development Finance Corporation, to make financial products and services available to these constituencies. Specifically, it is suggested that while Ithala Limited has been largely successful in providing savings accounts, home loans and business support finance to many of KwaZulu-Natal's "unbanked" and poor citizens, the organization is now facing political and commercial pressures which call into question its future as a "pro-poor" "banking" institution. In particular, this study identifies Ithala Limited as being unable to gain formal licensing as a banking agency as the result of anxieties felt by state institutions like the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) over the potential impact that Ithala Limited's sub-prime lending activities may have on macroeconomic stability. As a result of these worries, the SARB (along with the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government) is pressuring Ithala Limited to scale-back the extent of its "banking" mandate. A second pressure is identified by this study as emanating from South Africa's commercial banks, whose initial reluctance to serve impoverished populations appears to be fading as more cost-effective ways are found to extend banking products and services to the poor. For Ithala Limited, an advent of commercial sector interest in serving the "unbanked" and the poor raises key pressures revolving around the extent to which the firm, as a parastatal body, should seek to compete with the private sector when it comes to assisting these populations. This study poses two central questions: 1) how should Ithala Limited respond to these pressures? and 2) regardless of how it responds, how should the organization shape its corporate priorities to ensure that it remains an effective "development tool" in the future? This dissertation then argues that while the pressures facing Ithala Limited from both political and commercial forces are not without justification, the organization continues to possess a number of unique qualities that rationalize its continued presence in serving the low-income and "unbanked" markets in KwaZulu-Natal. As such, it is the position of this dissertation that Ithala Limited should try to resist these pressures as much as possible. At the same time, it will be demonstrated that for Ithala Limited to continue achieving success in assisting these aforementioned constituencies, it must pursue a three-pronged approach to organizational reform that prioritizes some degree of privatization to attract new sources of capital and to ease government fears about the existence of a "state-owned" bank for the poor. Further reforms, this study reveals, are needed in the areas of technological utilization and "homegrown" research capacity, both of which must be expanded and improved upon in order to allow Ithala Limited to reduce its operating costs, introduce a more varied range of products and keep up-to-date with changes in South African banking trends. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Poverty alleviation through employment creation is the focus of the South African government and other developing economies. The SMME sector has been identified as the leading vehicle for the creation of employment opportunities. South Africa in particular went through a phase when economic growth did not translate into employment creation. Consequently the benefits of economic growth did not filter through to the unemployed. In South Africa there is a strong link between unemployment and poverty. Essentially the country experienced jobless growth and it is the poor who missed out on the possible benefits of economic growth. The challenge then for South Africa is to come up with a revolutionary approach to ensure that the country's poor are not excluded from the of benefits economic growth. Almost half of the South African population lives in poverty. Poverty and the consequences thereof are most pronounced among the African population. This is due to the South African history of apartheid which systematically excluded them from accessing economic opportunities. Bringing development to communities is the thinking behind local economic development (LED). The urgency for the country to address poverty lies in the fact that poverty is not a static phenomenon and if left unaddressed it may to lead more people being poor when the numbers are already overwhelming. Government has come up with various strategies for poverty alleviation, employment creation being the chief strategy. The SMME sector is the most prominent employer in South Africa, said to be responsible for over 61 % of all employment. Even given these figures of there are still high levels of unemployment in the country. Growing industries like the tourism sector present a lot of hope for the ambitions of employment creation and poverty alleviation in developing countries including South Africa. The focus of this study will be the South African tourism sector. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This study investigated teachers’ management of learner problems in the context of an impoverished school community. The rationale for the study took into consideration the constant demands placed on learners and teachers by poverty-related issues. By illuminating the factors that affect teachers’ work performance in the context of an impoverished school community, it is hoped that all education stakeholders would be motivated to support, assist and guide teachers to overcome the current challenges with regard to poverty in schools, thus enhancing their work performance as well as that of their impoverished learners. The study employed a qualitative research design. Through a process of purposive sampling, five teachers from a primary school from the Phoenix Ward of the Pinetown District in KwaZulu-Natal were selected. The data were generated by means of semistructured interviews. The data gathered were coded and organized into themes, categories and sub-categories. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that the consequences of poverty at school level are numerous and become even more complex when there is a lack of parental support at community level. Furthermore, they reveal that poverty impacts negatively on learners’ academic performance. Factors associated with poor work performance by learners included abuse, parental apathy, the environment, and a lack of resources, to name but a few. Praise and recognition, as well as democratic leadership styles on the part of teachers have a positive influence on learners’ work performance. Flexibility, care and visible intervention by teachers and the school have been found to have a positive impact on learners’ attitude towards school. The study concludes with a number of recommendations to address and manage the problems experienced by learners in impoverished contexts. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Recent changes to welfare policy in South Africa advocated the need for social workers to adopt social development as a paradigm for service delivery. Within this policy framework empowerment is touted as the model to affect the transformation of the welfare sector and to achieve sustainable development in the post apartheid society. The concept empowerment and the issues relating to it are ambiguous and ill-defined. The study took place at the Pinetown Service Office, a local service provider of the Department of Welfare. The areas of operation are the inner and outer west areas of the Durban Unicity City Council and some areas of the Ilembe regional council. The purpose of the study was to analyse perception of practitioners about empowerment towards poverty alleviation. An exploratory-descriptive research design incorporating of questionnaire was utilized to collect data. The findings reflected that the perceptions of the participants about empowerment towards poverty alleviation were consistent in that they identified that it comprised of micro and macro socio- economic strategies to empower consumers to become self reliant. Other findings revealed that the predominant activities of the social workers regarding poverty towards poverty alleviation are to refer consumers to social security and developmental groups. Additionally, the study indicated that the Department of Welfare' s organizational bureaucracy inhibited the adoption of an empowerment orientation to social work practice. The recommendations included changes about organizational policy and social work practice in accordance to developmental social welfare policy proposed in the White Paper on Social Welfare, 1997. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

This article examines the rationale for a dynamic perspective of poverty in South Africa and analyses the magnitude and characteristics of those in chronic versus transitory poverty using data from the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study. The results show that the incidence and depth of poverty have increased steadily between 1993 and 1998, a trend that is pronounced in rural localities and for female-headed households. Though the majority of households (30.7%) were found to be experiencing transitory poverty, a significant proportion of households, in lieu of the expected small minority suggested by previous empirical research, were chronically poor. / Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

In South Africa, as in many other developing nations, scholars seek to explain the persistence of poverty and inequality, and to find out enduring responses to overcoming poverty. The contemporary interest in the idea of social capital has focused on the role that local level organizations and associational life may play in poverty alleviation. This study examines the extent to which burial societies and church groups in KwaZulu-Natal help households move out of poverty. In the face of widespread poverty and inequality, are organizations a vehicle which disadvantaged households make use of to help them move out of poverty and prevent them from moving into poverty? This study made use of qualitative data from the Socio Economic Study of the Persistence of Poverty and Inequality (SEPPI). One component of this study interviewed 50 households in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (households which had previously been part of the samples of both the SALDRU study and the KIDS study). One of the aims was to investigate the role that non-economic factors play in household poverty movements. The data was analyzed after being entered by SEPPI researchers into Hyper Research (Copyright © 1999 by Research Ware, Inc.). A literature review of the role of organizations, the relationship between organizations and well-being, the gender dynamics within organizations, the barriers to joining organizations, and the motivations for joining organizations led to the identification of four main research questions for investigation. These related to the impact of organizational membership on ability of households to "get ahead", differences between male and female membership in organizations, reasons for joining organizations, and barriers to joining organizations. The findings suggest that burial societies and church groups help households move out of poverty and prevent households from moving into poverty by providing them with skills, resources, and assistance (financial and emotional). Furthermore, these organizations act as a space where women can acquire leadership skills. However, both burial societies and church groups face problems related to poor management, leadership and discrimination, among other matters. These types of problems within organizations can lead to a negative impact on participating households. Moreover, people with few or no financial resources are excluded from joining organizations that can potentially prevent them from moving into poverty and enable them to "get ahead". Thus, the study indicates that participating in local community organizations can have both positive and negative impacts on households' ability to "get ahead". The limitations of the study relate to sampling limitations, interview conditions, second hand information, authenticity of household interviews, over-researched communities, and investigating motivation for joining organizations. This study suggests the relevance for policy involves issues such as: the need for addressing material barriers faced by those wishing to join local burial organizations, the need to enable poorer people to access legitimate financial institutions, and the need to address the role of women within and outside their communities. The study strongly suggests that studies of social capital should investigate both the way that organizational life can promote well-being as well as the way that poverty itself acts as a barrier to an individual's access to organizations. Both the positive and negative impacts should be explored. Moreover, future research would benefit from exploring men's participation in organizations, combining quantitative and qualitative methods, investigating motivations for joining, and exploring the sustainability of burial societies in the face of HIV/AIDS. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

In many parts of South Africa, a growing trend to convert traditional commercial agricultural farms to wildlife-based forms of land use is having significant but largely unexplored impacts on farm dwellers and neighbouring rural communities. This trend is very evident in the province of KwaZulu-Natal where there has been a significant shift in rural landscapes as land is being “rehabilitated”, from commercial cattle farming in particular, and developed into Private Game Reserves (PGRs). This research forms part of a larger project funded by Southern African Programme for Alternatives in Development (SANPAD). One of the research partners was the Association For Rural Advancement (AFRA), an independent Non-Governmental Organisation working on land rights and agrarian reform in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. AFRA‟s work focuses on black rural people whose rights to land have been undermined, whose tenure is insecure, and who do not have access to sufficient land to fulfil their development aspirations or their basic needs. Very little research has, however, been conducted on the large shift in land use in northern KwaZulu-Natal and how rural communities are being impacted in these areas; a situation this study intends to begin to remedy. This study focuses on the north-eastern area of the province, and in particular the Mkuze region, where the move to create PGRs has significantly changed the social and physical geography of the area. In order to gain a clearer understanding of this phenomenon, research was conducted on the relationship between the tribal/ traditional community of Ingwenya and five surrounding game reserves (namely, Thanda/ Intibane, Mkuze, Phinda, and Kube-Yini). While Mkuze is a state game reserve, created in the early twentieth century, the others are PGRs. The study was both quantitative and qualitative in nature which involved collecting household questionnaire surveys in the community of Ingwenya, in-depth interviews with ex-farm dwellers, questionnaire surveys with the managers of the five PGRs chosen in this study, oral and documentary evidence and participant observation. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

The objectives of this thesis were firstly, to review existing literature in order to identify broadly accepted and measurable indicators of the possible causes of poverty and the resulting symptoms. Secondly, to gather baseline information from a group of land reform beneficiaries in order to identify the different dimensions of poverty affecting the current and future well-being of these households. Thirdly, to undertake empirical analysis to assign these households to a small number of groups exhibiting different symptoms of poverty and then explain these differences in terms of their possible causes. A census survey of 38 land reform beneficiary households - members of a Communal Property Association (CPA) established to purchase Clipstone, a 630 hectare subdivision of the farm Sherwood in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal - was conducted in May 2002 to gather data on poverty indicators. Principal Component Analysis was used to construct an index of the standard of housing, which was then combined with variables measuring other symptoms of poverty (income, wealth and health) in a Cluster Analysis of the households. This revealed five clusters representing four distinct groups of poverty; households relatively income and asset rich, income rich but asset poor, asset rich but income poor and households with the lowest incomes and assets. Linear Discriminant Analysis was then used to distinguish the households that were relatively income and asset "rich" from those that were relatively income and asset poor, and those that were relatively income poor but "asset rich" from those relatively asset poor but "income rich". The main distinguishing indicators were found to be gender of the household head, family size, dependency ratio, education and access to markets. These findings show that there is a need to increase child welfare grants as pension earnings become less effective (due to decreasing life expectancy and high levels of dependence on pensions as a source of income) in the short run. In the long run, there is a need for increased education and vocational training - especially for women along with better access to transport, jobs and banking facilities (to mobilise savings). / Thesis (M.Agric.Mgt.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.