South African Rural Municipalities’ Innovation Lessons in Anti-poverty Policy Formulation, Assessment and Implementation
Tshililo Ruddy Farisani 
& Pfano Mashau
Issue: Vol.6 No.7 Article 18 pp.1173 -1191
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256718 | Published online 20th June, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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.
Keywords: National Policies, Local Regulations, Poverty, Assessment, Rural Innovative Processes.
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Tshililo Farisani is a specialist in Entrepreneurship, innovation and Leadership who holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership. His PhD focus on the sustainability of rural Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the South African Local Government He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Central University of Technology and a Judge at the Gender Mainstreaming Award. His research focuses on entrepreneurship and the sustainability of livelihoods.
Prof. Pfano Mashau is a Director at DUT Business School. His research interests focus on Small business development, innovation, business environments, entrepreneurship and research.
Farisani, Tshililo Ruddy, and Pfano Mashau. “South African Rural Municipalities’ Innovation Lessons in Anti-poverty Policy Formulation, Assessment and Implementation,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.7 (2025): 1173 -1191. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256718
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
