Abstract:
Many South Africans are living in poverty. Poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon
that requires well formulated strategies for its mitigation. The goal of the study was to
explore the FREC programme’s contribution to mitigating poverty from the participants’
perspectives.
The study employed a qualitative research approach and an instrumental case study
research design. This applied study was rooted in interpretivism, it had an exploratory
purpose and utilised the sustainable livelihoods framework as its theoretical
framework. The study population consisted of 10 current FREC programme
participants in Mamelodi and Nellmapius in the City of Tshwane, who were selected
through nonprobability purposive sampling. The data was collected using one-on-one
semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic data analysis.
The findings show that participants joined the FREC programme as they needed
physical, human, and financial capital to engage in entrepreneurship and micro
businesses in view of mitigating poverty. The findings show that the FREC programme
contributes to poverty mitigation by empowering programme participants with skills
and knowledge on entrepreneurship, mentoring and funding to successfully operate
their micro businesses.
The study concludes that poverty is best understood by the people who are
experiencing it and that mitigating poverty requires support and access to a wide range
of capital. The study recommends that FREC must establish a body that represents
the collective interests of township-based entrepreneurs, , improves their bargaining
power, and lobbies for greater governmental legislation and support for entrepreneurs
and micro businesses.
