Many of us often leave the relative comfort of city life to return to our rural homes, reconnecting with family, culture and community.
Too often, these places lack basic amenities such as running water, paved roads, electricity and, in some areas, even a reliable phone signal.
On the one hand, this regular homecoming lays bare the scale of urbanisation since 1994. Today, roughly 66% of South Africans live in towns and cities, up from about 50% in 1994.
On the other hand, it refocuses attention on rural underdevelopment, which is too often pushed aside in our national discourse.
Statistics SA’s Poverty Trends report arrives at exactly the right time.
The report provides a perspective on poverty reduction. While it contains no great surprises, it shows only marginal improvement.
The most consistent relief has come from social grants. Other rural development interventions have also helped, but the overall gains remain fragile.
In 2023, more than 23.2-million people lived below the lower-bound poverty line. That amounts to approximately R1,300 per person per month.
This is a reduction of 4.1-million people since 2006. This is progress, but it is slow. It is also uneven. Poverty rates remain among the highest in provinces such as Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the North West.
Growth is still too weak to absorb joblessness at scale, so rural underdevelopment is unlikely to abate soon. Across rural communities, the picture remains stark.
Whether in water-scare villages such as Ha-Matsa in Nzhelele, in the Makhado area of Limpopo, where hard rock lies close to the surface, or among the undulating hills and valleys of Maphumulo, in Nyamazane, KwaZulu-Natal, poverty shapes daily life.
So, what actually shifts the needle, beyond government programmes and good intentions?
Rural poverty is beatable when support is coordinated around households and women-led livelihoods. It cannot be solved by infrastructure delivery alone.
More than three decades ago, former first lady Zanele Mbeki and other women leaders established the Women’s Development Business (WDB) Trust. Their goal was to fight poverty in SA by promoting the economic and social upliftment of women in rural areas. A well-known adage says, “Educate a woman and you educate a nation.”
In 2024, 42.4% of South African households were female-headed (higher in rural areas). On average, these households are poorer than male-headed households. They also have fewer buffers when shocks hit.
Through WDB Trust programmes, we have observed this pattern in practice. The Trust supports women with practical interventions. These interventions improve living conditions and strengthen household resilience.
Consider Gomba Thambulo, a 42-year-old single mother of four in Ha-Matsa. She faced unemployment, domestic instability, limited educational support for her children and inadequate housing.
A WDB Trust led coordinated response. It involved the area social worker, the school principal, local business partners and ward representatives. Together, they secured an RDP house and psychosocial support for Thambulo.
She stabilised her home environment and began actively caring for her children. Local partners then donated a full school uniform. Her youngest child, previously absent, now attends school regularly.
In another instance, before the Trust’s intervention, Sebenzani Ngcobo’s seven-member household in Maphumulo lived in a single room. The family also had a separate mud-hut kitchen. They survived on child support grants. They relied on candles for lighting and open fire for cooking. Access to clean water was unreliable.
The Ngcobos and Thambulos are among more than 215,000 people supported by the WDB Trust’s Zenzele Development Programme since 2014.
In addition, significant microfinance has been extended to rural women over the past 35 years, benefitting more than 200,000 individuals and strengthening household livelihoods across rural communities.
The microloan component is inspired by the Grameen approach, developed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. It offers small, collateral-free loans to low-income borrowers. The primary borrowers are women.
Loans are provided through groups of about five members. This group-lending model builds mutual support and shared accountability.
Makgatle Jackals analysed the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme and the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme. Both programmes were launched between 2001 and 2010. In his 2023 academic paper, he argues that successful rural development needs active community participation.
He also highlights key principles for lasting projects. These include community-centred design, capacity development and stakeholder collaboration.
Yes, the government must guarantee the basics. It must also co-design with residents. However, private-sector and NGO funding should support integrated plans that link services to livelihoods and microenterprises. That requires a single plan with clear accountabilities. It also requires delivery through local partnerships.
In this way, we can continue to uplift women, one household at a time. We can also show how coordinated support turns fragile gains into durable change.
- Phiyega is CEO of the WDB Trust
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