'Mind of a banker/heart of a social worker': social sustainability and the Small Enterprise Foundation in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province

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Periodical article

Title:	'Mind of a banker/heart of a social worker': social sustainability and the Small Enterprise Foundation in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province
Author:	Herselman, Stephne
Year:	2012
Periodical:	Africanus (ISSN 0304-615X)
Volume:	42
Issue:	1
Pages:	69-84
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	microfinance NGO poverty reduction sustainable development
Abstract:	Economic characterization places South Africa among the world's upper-middle income countries, but in reality, it is one of the world's most unequal societies. Although the social grant system constitutes a safety net that provides protection to cover emergencies and prevent destitution, the microcredit industry is suggested to be a palliative, rather than a contribution to poverty alleviation, as it does not get to the poverty's root cause, namely the absence of personal or collective wealth, or the ability to acquire it. However, are or can processes of poverty alleviation or poverty eradication ever be sustainable? This paper uses the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), which provides microloans to poor people to establish microenterprises, as a case study. The author investigates whether SEF's operations can be regarded as socially sustainable. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract, edited]