Poverty reduction policies and strategies implemented in the North West Province : an evaluation of their impact in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District

Abstract

Governments in the Developing World, including South Africa and its North West Province, are faced with the daunting development challenge of poverty reduction. This is evidenced by the high incidence, severity and widespread of poverty. The challenge is even more acute and compelling in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District where poverty is widespread and more pervasive in the rural communities. Poverty which is subjective, is conceptualised broadly in this Thesis as, lack of well-being and dignity, and it afflicts people multidimensionally, quantitatively and qualitatively, and requires appropriate multidimensional interventions to reduce it if not eradicate it. To meet the challenge of poverty alleviation, the North West Provincial Government has adopted and implemented multidimensional policies, legislative and institutional frameworks and strategies. Despite these efforts, nearly half the population continues to live in poverty. The aim of this study therefore was to evaluate the appropriateness and impact of the North West Government's implemented poverty reduction strategies on the poor in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District. Four projects implemented in the villages of Mathateng, Mayaeyane, Uitkyk and the rural suburbs of Mafikeng were used as case studies. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were applied in the collection of the data and its analysis. This study identifies the nature, extent and the depth or the severity of poverty amongst the target people, and examines the relevance of the various Provincial Government policies and strategies directed at them. It establishes that poverty reduction strategies have not been effectively implemented in the rural areas. The findings highlight the challenges facing the residents of the study area and the reasons for the continued poverty in the area. It concludes that although the North West Government's poverty reduction policies and strategies may be effective, replicable and efficiently bringing down poverty at the provincial and district levels, they are less effective at the local level i.e. rural areas. At the local level where the majority of the poor reside the benefits of the generous policies have not been fully felt.