Thesis (M. Dev.)-- University of Limpopo, 2011. / Sustainability of poverty relief projects: an evaluative case study of Madumeleng community bread making project in Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province This mini-dissertation was conducted on a community poverty alleviation project that was implemented by government through the Department of Social Development at Madumeleng village. Madumeleng is a village in Bolobedu(Modjadji) under the Greater Letaba Municipality in Mopani District. The Greater Letaba Municipality is one of the rural municipalities in the district of Mopani. The project was identified by the community members as a flagship towards addressing poverty within the village and eventually in the municipal area. The project was initiated by a group of women who started as volunteers. Their objective was to make the project big and viable within the society. The women had wishes also that the project should eventually create more jobs for the community members and thereby contribute in alleviating poverty and unemployment. The above resonates well with the objective of government and in particular the Department of Social Development in funding these projects. The study was ignited by the fact that after all the efforts by government to provide funding and ensure that the project members are capacitated, still the project collapsed. The project could not last longer than it was expected and this was the main reason for the study. The study should contribute in surmounting some factors which might have contributed into the collapse of the project. Government should also be able to draw lessons from the study to improve on the approach when they fund future projects.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2011 / The study focused on the existence of Extended Public Works Projects (EPWP) and beneficiation in the village of Croquetlawn and Tsemamarhumbu village of Mkhuhlu in the Bushbuckridge Municipality. Many rural households live in situations of high unemployment and abject poverty, especially in the rural neighbourhoods of South Africa. The introduction of labour intensive projects of government in infrastructural development, under the auspices of the Department of Public Works, has brought a great relief in redressing unemployment and poverty in the country. While the provision of these short-term based jobs is life-saving, the question is whether or not these projects (EPWP) will provide a sustainable solution to unemployment and poverty with the skills and information they provide to the employees. The methodology used in this study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. A small sample size of 40 people was selected using purposive sampling, targeting mainly beneficiaries of EPWPs, Municipal officials, CBOs, traditional leaders (indunas) and Ward Councillors. It is worth pointing out that the study findings indicated the positive impact of the EPWPs on beneficiaries; even though challenges were still enormous. At the delivery or grassroots point, the institutional arrangement of the Programme is virtually weak and non-existent in most instances resulting in poor governance. It is recommended that during the programme design stage, institutional arrangements and mechanism must be improved by the involvement of community structures to enhance good governance. It is recommended that gender mainstreaming forms part of the project management and programme design. This implies that vulnerable people such as women and orphaned children are given a special status in the programme. The programme design should also in the main address human basic needs related to infrastructural projects. Labour intensive programmes can create a greater demand for local products and services than do high technology programmes which may heavily rely on imported technology and equipment.

Thesis (M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / his study investigates the impact of poverty-alleviation projects on women development at Mogalakwena Municipality in Limpopo Province. Focus is on three projects, namely; Malokong, Masipa and Rooiwal poultry projects. The researcher has used the qualitative paradigm in this study, though limited aspects of the quantitative approach were also used. Convenience sampling has been used to collect data from a sample of forty (40) women from all the three identified poultry projects. All the respondents are women beneficiaries of different ages in the above-mentioned poultry projects. The study highlights employment generation and appropriate technology versions of growth with equity theories to justify the necessity of poverty-alleviation projects. It confirms the chief characteristic of the employment version that illustrates the projects’ ability to employ different groups of people, particularly those with very low educational backgrounds. These projects enable them to get income that can be used to pay school fees, buy food and pay medical bills in support of their families, thereby improving the overall wellbeing of women in rural communities The approaches (qualitative and quantitative) advocate for the use of local technologies and labour intensive methods to create more jobs and produce economic spin-offs. Poultry projects were chosen because they are appropriate and relevant to the needs of most communities of the Mogalakwena Municipality who are predominantly rural and poor. The study found out that the projects benefit local residents by providing affordable food security needs in the form of fresh chicken meat. These products are a vital source of protein which is necessary for good health. In addition, members derive both economic and social benefits from poultry projects. Given the threats to sustainability of these projects, the study recommends that the government employ more Agricultural Extension Officers and mobilise financial resources to support the activities of these projects. There is also an increased demand for more training on various aspects of management and production for members to maximise output. The study also identifies the significance of a continuous monitoring and evaluation of projects on a regular basis.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is one of the youngest Christian denominations in modern history. It is also one of the smallest, numerically, in South Africa. However, because of the church’s high evangelistic zeal Adventists can be found in almost every part of South Africa. From a motley figure of about 3500 at the time of the church’s legal organisation in 1861, Adventists now number about 18 million globally. There is a notable presence of Adventists in Soweto, west of Johannesburg. In this study, the focus is on how the Adventist church responds to the phenomenon of poverty in Soweto. The intent is to identify current activities of the church relative to poverty alleviation, actual or possible weaknesses in the church’s response to poverty and whether these are consequences of socio-theological or other factors in the structures and institutions of the church. The end of the study will be a propositional discourse that will suggest pointers towards a more relevant and sustainable poverty alleviation programme informed by sound theological, practical pastoral and developmental considerations. This work is a missiological study focusing on Soweto, seeking to critically assess the extent to which Adventists are involved in alleviating poverty in Soweto. It also explores a model by which they can successfully and redemptive encounter the poor at their point of need. Although the main focus will be given to the missiological task of the Adventists of Soweto, the study will also integrate other disciplines to deal with sociological and political considerations. The approach adopted in this study is a pastoral contextual approach of doing theology in Soweto. Within this contextual approach I shall apply the pastoral cycle since this method converges with other relevant methods of analysis and social critique. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

Thesis (MTech. degree in Education.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Investigates the perceptions of educators of the effects of poverty on academic achievement in eMondlo schools. It attempted to investigate what happens to a learner's performance at school when he/she comes from a poor family background.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of families receiving the Child Support Grant in Phoenix, Durban and to establish whether the Child Support Grant contributes to poverty alleviation or not. The investigation included establishing whether people who receive the child support grant are able to meet the needs of their child, to document the income, expenditure on households receiving the child support grant, to explore whether the recipients believe that the quality of their life has improved after receiving the Child Support Grant, to ascertain what would be their ideal social security support and to determine the grant holders opinions about the termination of the grant. Fifty Child Support Grant recipients were interviewed and a questionnaire consisting of fourteen questions were completed and analysed. The results of the study indicate that the Child Support Grant has contributed significantly towards poverty alleviation in the Phoenix community. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

In the South African context, the Eastern Cape Province constitutes one of the most depressed and poorest regions with widespread poverty. It is characterised by a comparatively large rural population reflecting a skewed female/male ratio in favour of females due to large-scale outmigration of adult males seeking work in urban areas both within and outside the province, widespread unemployment, and lack of access to social infrastructure and services in many areas. The region thus provides an ideal setting for investigating gender and poverty linkages. Drawing on the literature, the study addresses the conceptual definitions and notions of poverty and explores issues on gender inequality and its effect on poverty. Paramount in explaining gender inequality are the gendered social relations between males and females brought about as a result of unequal access to economic and social resources and gendered division of labour in the household, extending to other institution sites, an skewed in favour of males. From the literature then, men and women were likely to experience poverty differently. Using official survey data on the Eastern Cape for 1997 and 2002, the study selected and analysed indicators that correlate with poverty, based on gender. The analysis came out with strong linkages between gender and poverty. It is established from the findings that the living conditions and life circumstances of women were more associated with the characteristics of poverty than that of men, leading to the conclusion that poverty remains gendered, and men and women experience poverty differently, with women more likely to be adversely affected than men. The investigation has also established that the rural population is more likely than the urban population to be at risk to the experience of poverty in the Eastern Cape, and that the African population group was the most affected group. In concluding, the study advocated the adoption of gender positive alleviation policy strategies that aim at improving women's access to economic and social resources. This, it is hoped, will have the effect of enhancing their capabilities and capacities. Secondly, it called for the adoption of sustainable livelihood programs, especially in rural areas where the majority of the vulnerable women reside and eke their livelihoods. It also acknowledged, in its concluding remarks, the limitations of household data in studies on gender disparities and advocated for the need to generate disaggregated intra-household data, the analysis of which may provide a more meaningful insight into gender-poverty linkages. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Dev.Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

Poverty among individuals, households or communities is not a static condition. There are many factors which contribute to its causes and depth. In South Africa the economic gaps imposed by the previous apartheid government aggravated economic inequalities and caused considerable disparities, which has resulted in high unemployment rates. Inequalities were also manifest in the neglect of infrastructural and service provision as well in the effective absence of independent governance among some race group. This led to a call for pro-active initiatives by the post-1994 democratic government to remedy the living condition of the previously disadvantaged people. As part of its poverty relief drive the South African government has embarked on a series of developmental initiatives in bringing infrastructure related services to the poor and to reduce the enormous prevailing backlog, with the aim of increasing community participation, improving service delivery and promoting the upliftment of the lives of poor people through the medium of local governance. This study investigated the Integrated Development Planning, which has been undertaken in Grahamstown in the Makana Municipality in the Eastern Cape to respond to the prevailing poverty and underdevelopment among the poor communities. Relying on their developmental mandate to initiate and co-ordinate all development activities within their area of jurisdiction through the IDP, the Makana Municipality has drawn up a development strategic plan in conjunction with the local communities and with other stakeholders and organisations to identify and assess development backlogs within the communities with the aim of addressing such backlogs. This study revealed from the interviews conducted with some municipal personnel and questionnaires administered to sampled residents of Grahamstown that some faces of poverty, such as unemployment and lack of access to some of the most basic of infrastructure such as, sanitation facilities, water, electricity, formal house, education, security and recreation facilities are apparent in Grahamstown. However, the Makana Municipality through, the IDP has achieved some notable feats in the provision of providing some of the basic amenities such as water, housing, electricity and sanitation albeit at a slow rate. The mechanism of delivery is hampered by bureaucratic settings within government and the ambiguity attached to some of the projects. The service and infrastructural developments targeted towards the poor and the involvement of communities in the affairs of the local government might be seen as a partially panacea for poverty alleviation in South Africa. However the capacity of the local governments to effectively carry out this developmental challenge assignment might be a new twist in the developmental challenge facing local governments in South Africa. The thesis provides an overview of the Makana Municipality IDP and the degree to which is serving as one mechanism to address poverty in the Grahamstown urban area

This study examines the impact of children’s grants on household access to food, education and health care. In the face of increased poverty and socio-economic inequalities, social grants are a critical poverty alleviation intervention implemented by the government of South Africa. The children’s grants are offered as part of the social security system which is provided for in the Republic of South Africa Constitution of 1996 and the Social Assistance Act of 2004. The basic needs conceptual framework is the lens informing the focus of the study. Among other major findings, the study reveals that (a) childrens grants play a critical role in improvement of access to food, health care and education, (b) childrens grants are used as collateral, to access short term loans, and (c) social networks and home gardens play a significant role in aiding children’s grants to ensure household access to food, education and health care.