Despite the efforts by government to support and direct resources and institutions to address high levels of poverty through co-operative programmes, the Eastern Cape Province remains one of the poorest provinces in the country. Even in the relatively more prosperous Cacadu District in the western portion of the Province, the socio- economic landscape is punctuated by pockets of acute poverty. In order to support government policies to promote co-operatives as a means to address past exclusions from the agricultural sector, as well as to promote socio-economic development in one of its poorest local municipalities, the Cacadu District Municipality has been implementing a support and mentoring programme to agricultural co-operatives in the Ikwezi Local Municipality. Furthermore, Ikwezi was selected because it has the highest concentration of co-operatives in the region supported by the District Municipality and by other Sector Departments from the National and Provincial Governments. The relationships between the support that is provided by Cacadu District Municipality to co-operatives and the extent to which supported co-operatives harness these advantages to grow and sustain their enterprises, forms the cornerstone of this research. As such, the hypothesis that will be tested reads as follows: The government support provided by Cacadu District Municipality to co-operatives in its area of jurisdiction has resulted in the growth and sustainability of the co-operative enterprises. The literature review considers the significant role that co-operatives play in local economic development. It provides a historical overview of co-operatives, as well as the policy framework on co-operatives in South Africa. The role of Cacadu District Municipality with regards to co-operatives and local economic development is reviewed, as well as its co- operative support and mentorship programme. An overview of the socio-economic profile of the Ikwezi Local Municipality and the agricultural co-operatives in the area concludes the literature review. The research approach is based on a mixed method between the qualitative and quantitative research families, with a bias towards the qualitative approach. The study placed more emphasis on the data gathered from individual co-operative businesses and the personal experiences of individuals involved in the co-operative sector. This approach requires qualitative techniques such as interviews and observations. The internet was used as a source for the gathering of relevant data related to the stated research objectives. Other relevant information is gathered through documents reviewed and case studies. The study used questionnaires to interview a sample of agricultural co-operatives in Ikwezi. The collected data was analysed and presented according to a set of themes that formed the basis for the analysis. The analysis provided insights into the background and history of the selected co-operatives, the challenges that they face to survive and the support that they require from government and other potential support structures. The analysis furthermore focussed on the perception of the members of the co-operatives of the impact – whether positive or negative – of the Cacadu co-operatives support and, in particular, it’s mentorship programme. The findings revealed that there was overwhelming support from the co-operative members for the intervention and mentorship provided by the Cacadu District Municipality. It became clear that accessing agricultural land and providing funding and inputs to emerging farmers and co-operatives is not enough. There needs to be a building and nurturing of an entrepreneurial spirit and business mentality accompanied by appropriate training and capacity building interventions for the co- operatives to become successful enterprises. This study reveals that this is possible given all the resources at the disposal of the state. In conclusion, the hypothesis that the support provided by Cacadu District Municipality to co-operatives in its area of jurisdiction has resulted in the growth and sustainability of the co-operative enterprises, was found to be valid.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:20961 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Kate, Pumelelo Maxwell |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | 55 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
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