Abstract:
The study focused on the Local Economic Development (LED) challenges facing the
local government in Limpopo Province. The specific study area was Motumo Trading
Post located in Molemole Local Municipality. Molemole Local Municipality is one of the
five municipalities in the Capricorn District Municipality. The study was qualitative in
nature and included some elements of quantitative research in the form of numbers,
graphs and tables and concentrated on the functionality of the Motumo Trading Post
project. The respondents in this study were the community members of Matoks (known
as Botlokwa in Sepedi), the Councillors of Molemole Municipality, managers of both
Molemole local Municipality and Capricorn District Municipality, the traditional leaders
and mayors of Molemole Local Municipality and Capricorn District Municipality.
The study indicates that the local government, through municipalities is faced with
challenges of bringing about economic growth to the poor people, especially in rural
areas, through local economic development projects. The findings in this study indicate
that Motumo Trading Post, which is a government initiative to improve the standard of
living of Matoks community, has had no impact since its completion. The community of
Matoks did not benefit from the project and the plans by the municipalities were not
realised. The study also shows that not enough was done to involve the stakeholders in
the planning and development of the project.
