The sustainability of Local Economic Development Projects in Kgwale Village in the Blouberg Municipality, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Since the mid-nineties, Local Economic Development (LED) has been the focal point for the South African government led by the African National Congress. The aim of LED is to redress the injustices of the apartheid regime and to enable previously disadvantaged groups to be incorporated into the formal economy and to involve them in poverty alleviation programmes. So far, the government has spent millions of rands in funding LED projects, with the primary goal of ensuring poverty alleviation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sustainability of LED projects in Kgwale village (Devilliersdale) in the Blouberg Municipality, Limpopo Province, with the main aim being to establish the factors that enhance the sustainability of projects vis-à-vis those factors that hinder the sustainability of projects. A qualitative study was conducted with 18 participants who were members of the three (03) projects and with three LED project managers from the Blouberg Municipality, the Department of Corporate Governance, Human Setttlements and Traditional Affairs and the Department of Health and Social Development. Data was obtained through semi-structured one-to-one interviews, focus group interviews and observations. The findings of the investigation mostly confirm what other researchers have already discovered, such as the role played by the educational level of beneficiaries of these projects in the success of the projects. Only one person who was a manager of the two (02) projects, namely, the Moselatlala/Farming and Moselatlala/Brick-laying projects, had a post-matric qualification. This however was in education, which is not relevant to LED. None of the Sewing Project members had Grade 12. All the three projects did not keep accounting records and did not use the services of the independent auditor to audit their projects. Most members in these projects were women, as in most projects in rural areas. The Sewing Project could not last for one year. This indicates that the members did not xii have interest in sewing, because they did not receive proper training and sufficient support. The researcher sees this as an indication that the members lacked patience and perseverance. In the Moselatlala/Farming and Moselatlala/Brick-laying projects, the members stuck to the projects despite the fact that the projects were not yielding results. They did not see these projects as get-rich-quick schemes where people will easily earn a lot of money without much effort. The members worked tirelessly, hoping that one day they will earn salaries, until they decided to share the resources which they had acquired because they realised that their efforts were meaningless. The researcher suggests that further in-depth research be conducted on the factors that lead to LED projects collapsing instead of sustaining themselves, creating employment and being financially and economically viable.