This MSc (Eng) Investigational Project Report entails the evaluation of the Sekhukhuneland
Development Programme (SDP). The SDP is a joint initiative of the Donaldson Trust and the
Research Centre for Employment Creation in Construction (WORK). Its objective is: to
increase the use of labour-intensive methods in the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural
roads and other infrastructure in order to contribute to employment generation, skills
development, provision of infrastructure and poverty alleviation.
In order to achieve this objective an “Association not for gain” called LITE (Labour Intensive
Training and Engineering) was formed; the Donaldson Trust provided the finance, and the
expertise was provided by The Research Centre (WORK) but with additional support by
Employment Intensive Engineering Consultants (EIEC). As the contracting organisation
evolved from nothing into the training and engineering company LITE, the number of
employees rose from none to fourteen. The University of the Witwatersrand provided a
number of students to the project site at Mohlaletse in Sekhukhuneland where they provided
voluntary assistance as part of their studies. Many of these students were from the University
of Twente in the Netherlands, and it was largely due to their commitment that the project
enjoyed such healthy growth. Considering the meagre resources this growth was a remarkable
achievement, and it was made possible, not only through the efforts of the students, but also
through the acceptance and support of the community. This support included providing
accommodation for both students and site management. With a minimum of resources local
community members were trained and employed by the SDP over a prolonged period of three
years. The SDP evolved into a new programme, the Mohlaletse Youth Service Programme
(MYSP), funded by the Umsobomvu Youth Fund. Of the R1.700.000 donated to the SDP,
R1.690.000 was used during the evaluated period. Of this sum approximately 50% was spent
directly within the Mohlaletse and Monametse community.
The SDP consisted out of three main phases. The organisation evolved during the first two
phases from no organisation into LITE Section 21, an organisation that could deal with
training and engineering based on a strong labour-intensive focus. During the Pilot Phase the
programme focused on establishing contact with the community and proving that labouriii
intensive construction method could work. The next phase was the Training Phase where the
necessary team leaders were trained to perform a variety of construction techniques. These
techniques range from drainage structure to roads and buildings. The last phase is the
Construction Phase during which the construction went ahead as planned using fully trained
team leaders from the local community. The total setting of the SDP was as follows:
SDP Phases SDP Periods Organisation SDP Projects
- Pilot Phase: Period 1999H None Period Projects
Period 2000A Point-of-Fact (Pty) Ltd Period Projects
- Training Phase: Period 2001A Period Projects Mohlaletse
Money-Cant-Buy
Section 21 Period Projects Monametse
Period 2001H Period Projects Mohlaletse
LITE - Section 21
Period Projects Monametse
Period Project Compound
- Construction Phase: Period 2002H Period Projects Mohlaletse
Period Projects Monametse
Period Project LITE-House
and LITE-School
The main reason for the success has been the substantial involvement of the local Mohlaletse
community and the acceptance of the Site Management within the Community. Within the
constraints of the programme definition and objectives, the SDP has been a success to its
sponsors and beneficiaries.
Major problems were encountered within the fields of Labour-Intensive Construction
Methods and the Project Management Areas of Knowledge. These should be taken into
consideration when a new Constructing-Training Programme is started in future.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/5839 |
| Date | 24 November 2008 |
| Creators | Van Zandvoort, Hubert Evert |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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