The impact of poverty alleviation project in Ga-Molepo area in Polokwane Municipality, Limpopo Province.

Abstract

This study took place in four villages at gaMolepo area. The villages form part of Wards three and four of the Polokwane Municipality in the Limpopo province, Republic of South Africa. The purpose of the study is to explore factors that might have an impact on the communities' anti-poverty projects. The study focuses on four projects: two agricultural projects and two non-agricultural projects. The study applies both the qualitative and quantitative methodologies to collect and collate data from the projects. The findings of the study largely confirm what other researchers have already discovered, such as: the role played by the educational level of the beneficiaries of these projects on the success of their projects. The best performing project has 70% of its members who attained secondary education, and the worst performing has only 16.7%. Projects in which the beneficiaries show the best level of dedication and commitment as measured by the rate of members’ absenteeism succeed, unlike those having the highest rate of absenteeism. The top two best performing projects keep proper accounting records and have appropriate leadership than the bottom two least performing projects (Sehlale Women’s Project and Bethel Vegetable Project). The majority of members of these projects, as in most rural areas, are women. Interestingly, the top best performing project is registered as a Close Corporation. This might suggest that an anti-poverty project, which is accountable to the taxpayer, as in a Close Corporation, is likely to be successful as the law compels it to adhere to strict business practices. The same cannot be said of the Non-Profit Organisations. One noteworthy finding is an observation that the worst performing projects (Sehlale Women’s Club and Bethel Vegetable project)comprise largely of pensioners (58% and 57% respectively), and show the highest degree of disunity. However, the researcher suggests further in-depth research on the impact of anti-poverty projects registered as Close Corporations versus Non-Profit Organisations. Furthermore, the findings that the least performing projects tend to have the majority of pensioners and are the most disunited need further research to determine whether they perform poorly because of disunity, or because the members are pensioners, or both.