Eastern Cape Province’s Response to the Challenge of Poverty

This paper presents the findings on the intervention strategies undertaken by the Eastern Cape Provincial Government regarding the challenge of poverty. The paper begins by discussing the poverty situation in the Eastern Cape. It further deliberates on the poverty alleviation initiatives that have been undertaken so far, as well as the lessons learned, and presents the identified gaps. In a wider context, the South African government has been engaged in poverty alleviation immediately after the first democratic elections, attempting to deal with the challenges posed by apartheid in those parts of society where the rates of poverty were extremely high, with resulting high unemployment rates, illiteracy, and underdevelopment, particularly in the former black-only demarcated areas. The study used document analysis and the purposive sampling method. If the current intervention strategies could be implemented effectively, most poor households in the Eastern Cape Province would be free from poverty.