South African Rural Municipalities’ Innovation Lessons in Anti-poverty Policy Formulation, Assessment and Implementation

Rural municipalities across the globe have endured an unprecedented wave of unforeseen disasters from floods, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural challenges associated with poor infrastructure and weak leadership in poor and developing countries to innovatively implement relevant policies meant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tshililo Ruddy Farisani, Pfano Mashau
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Noyam Journals 2025-06-01
Series:E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Online Access:https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EHASS20256718.pdf
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Summary:Rural municipalities across the globe have endured an unprecedented wave of unforeseen disasters from floods, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural challenges associated with poor infrastructure and weak leadership in poor and developing countries to innovatively implement relevant policies meant to respond to disasters have often led to excessive poverty after such disasters. The objective of this article is to suggest processes and draw lessons of local and rural innovation in anti-poverty policy formulation, assessment and implementation from the two South African municipalities. The study utilized a qualitative research methodology, adhering to the interpretative paradigm. Social Network Analysis (SNA) and individual interviews were selected as the primary instruments for data collection from two rural municipalities. Data analysis was conducted using NVivo 12 software. The findings reveal that national policies are only as good (in their provision of resources during disasters and poverty alleviation) as their interpretations and implementation by the collective. The collective is the various institutions locally (e.g. local municipalities, local chiefs/traditional authority), nationally (e.g. DEDEAT) and internationally (e.g. Accenture). Thus, rural-based institutions such as local municipalities and NGOs are key in leading the policy assessment and implementation to manage disasters and alleviate poverty. This study’s contribution lies in the suggested rural innovative regulative processes (suggested rural innovative regulative processes that serve as lessons for other rural municipalities). Suggested regulative processes that other rural municipalities within South Africa and beyond may implement in responding to disasters that threaten the sustainability of local rural livelihoods.
ISSN:2720-7722