Square Pegs in Round Holes? An Assessment of State-Led Poverty Alleviation Strategies in South Africa

Globally, different governments have engaged various strategies towards solving the twin problems of inequality and poverty. To this effect, post-Apartheid South African governments have engaged some policies and strategies towards addressing these twin problems especially as it concerns the previously disadvantaged majority African groups. To what extent have these policies and efforts been effective remains an issue for debate in the extant literature on development in South Africa. This qualitative study informed by secondary data engages in the debate on the (in) effectiveness of some of the state-led policies and strategies aimed at poverty alleviation and development in South Africa since the demise of Apartheid. The paper argues that state-led efforts at poverty alleviation within South Africa have relatively not met the envisioned success. The apparent failure is blamed on the government's adoption of mainly economic/IC conception of poverty and tackling the problem through neo-liberal economic policies/strategies. Also, there has been notable poor implementation of the policies at the grassroots as a result of weak government institutions. The study recommends improving the agency role of government in poverty alleviation by the adoption of a State-in-Society Approach rather than a State-Centred Approach.