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The impact of Extended Public Works Programmes on poverty alleviation in the Bushbuckridge Municipality in the Mpumalanga Province

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.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/716
Date January 2011
CreatorsMothapo, Matšatši Frederick
ContributorsMtapuri, O.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Formatviii, 83 leaves : col. ill.
RelationAdobe acrobat reader, version 8

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