Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Poverty Alleviation and Sustainability of Community-based Projects in the Inanda Region in Durban, South Africa

Abstract In South Africa, although, various poverty alleviation projects have been implemented with some degree of success, there still remain alarmingly high levels of poverty among those that have been historically disadvantaged. Based on field research in the Urban Renewal Program in Inanda, North of Durban, the present study qualitatively examined the perspectives of project implementers regarding the appreciation for local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) and its relative impact on the failure of poverty alleviation projects. The central premise of the present study is that there is a notable gap of IKS and its integration in the White Paper on Social Welfare (1997) and this has had a ripple impact on the implementation and sustainability of community based projects in Inanda. The study examines the policy context of social development, the importance attached to IKS as part of a holistic poverty alleviation strategy within the broad social development framework currently in place in the country and presents suggestions for incorporating IKS into future poverty alleviation projects.