My life! My responsibility!

After the unprecedented July 2021 looting and unrest that hit our province of KZN, ILTL and partner NPO, Izulu Orphan Projects, knew that a knee-jerk reaction to resolve this ‘challenge’, was not sufficient. To truly understand why families might have involved themselves in the looting, an in-depth assessment was needed.

Our combined team of Greenlight Facilitators began the task of interviewing 250 families, under of My Life! My Responsibility! Programme. Using the Greenlight survey tool, families are able to reflect, prioritise, and start to plan how they might resolve any poverty-related challenge that affect them.

Forty-four families, made up of between 8-18 family members have so far been assessed. The preliminary data has bene collated and gives an indication of what challenges most affect these families.

Below are some examples of findings:

• Only 7% of our families survive on more than R5 000 per month. 52% have between R2 000 – R5 000. 41% of our families live on a total family income of less than R2 000 per month.
• 52% of our families rely on seasonal work and 41% have absolutely no form of income besides government grants.
• 62% of our families have no access to any kind of credit besides the thieving loan sharks which prey on the financially vulnerable. Many of our grandmothers take these loans at 50% interest. This typically happens when their pension money runs out halfway through the month when trying to feed their families. They are stuck in this vicious cycle of handing over their whole pension to try pay their loans back every month.
• 69% of our families have never been able to save a single cent. With no access to credit either, they have no means to try start any kind of business or way to generate income.

We still have a great many surveys to complete, but are excited to see what the findings reveal, so that we can better assist the families towards sustainability.