The sustainability of Moletjie Rural Women Club (MRWC) project : An income generating project

Abstract

This study is a “description” of a research carried out on the Moletjie Rural Women Club (MRWC) project at the Moletjie (Moshate) village in the Limpopo Province. Moletjie (Moshate) is a rural village found in the Capricorn District under the Polokwane Municipality and it is about twenty (20) kilometers west of the city of Polokwane. In the Polokwane Municipality there are projects for eradicating poverty, eradicating unemployment and for generating income. Some of the incomes generating projects in Polokwane Municipality are Moletjie Matlala Poultry, Thogwaneng People’s Bakery, Moletjie Rural Women Club, and Baitapishi Bricks Making. The researcher decided to do a research to find how the Moletjie Rural Women Club project sustains itself among the income generating projects in Limpopo Province. The findings of this study will contribute towards the realization of factors affecting the sustainability of projects. The following research questions were formulated for this study. Main question  How is the Moletjie Rural Women Club (MRWC) project able to sustain itself? Sub-questions  To what extent is the MRWC project sustainable?  Who are the main role players for the project to sustain itself?  Which are the factors that influence the project to sustain itself? To help the researcher in arriving at some answers to the above-mentioned research questions, he decided to undertake an exploratory and evaluative study. The intention of this study was to evaluate factors affecting the sustainability of income generating projects, particularly at the Moletjie area. The researcher checked the stages of project initiation, planning, execution, control and closing, and finally the researcher realized these stages contribute to the sustainability of projects. During investigation, the researcher realized that if all phases and stages of project implementation could be carried out successfully, then the project would be sustainable. Chapter 1, describes the introduction and background of the study. It outlines the geographical background of the MRWC project and the historical background of South Africa including the ownership of land, provision of health care, education and welfare services. The main aims and objectives of the study were given, as well as the main and sub-guest ions. Chapter 2, describes factors that could be affecting the sustainability of income generating projects in the Limpopo Province. After the preliminary visit and interview with the Moletjie Rural Women (MRWC) project, the following stages and phases that could affect the sustainability of projects were mentioned:  Initiation  Planning  Execution  Control  Closing Chapter 3, describes the instruments used in collecting data from various role players in different phases of data collection. In this chapter there is an explanation of how data was collected from different phases. I outline the importance of having a proposal when doing research work because that helped in research activities. Chapter 4, describes the setting of this study. The chapter outlines the place where the study was undertaken, as well as the description of the project, which is more about the results of my study. The findings started by observing the surrounding and the physical layout of the area where in the project is found. The findings were also based on document review and interviews with the project stakeholders. Factors that could affect the sustainability of projects in the Limpopo Province, specifically to projects in Moletjie area were indicated. The reports on the findings from observation and interview were given. Chapter 5, describes the conclusion and recommendations of this study. The factors that made the MRWC project to sustain itself among the income generating projects in Polokwane and around Moletjie area are mentioned. The recommendations for problems and factors that need to be considered for the sustainability of project were discussed. The recommendations for further research on issues that need to be considered for the sustainability of projects were given.