Lessons for PRSP from poverty reduction strategies in South Africa

Abstract

This paper will first provide a brief overview of different interpretations of the PRSP process. The paper will then review the context of poverty in South Africa before presenting recent evidence on the extent, distribution and nature of poverty in South Africa since the transition to democracy in 1994. The paper will then describe the components of South Africa’s approach to poverty reduction that resemble PRSP activities. The paper concludes by reflecting on this experience in terms of the objectives that PRSP claims to advance, namely a country-driven sustainable reduction in poverty.