LEAP: Local Economic Action Partnership

for Socially and Economically Excluded Groups in Alfred Nzo Municipality

Issue Area: Economic Justice

“I cannot wait to see when things are happening in our area. This has triggered a lot of enthusiasm in me.”  — LEAP Participant

With LEAP, Vesper Society is deepening its work in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province by supporting a range of economic interventions that enable poor and vulnerable groups to climb the ladder out of poverty. Under the leadership of SaveAct, a Pietermaritzburg-based NGO, and in partnership with the European Union through Thina Sinako (a provincial program), Vesper Society seeks to build upon local initiatives and, importantly, capacities of over 2000 individuals through the creation and implementation of Savings and Credit Groups.

Savings and Credit Groups differ from other micro-financing tools such as loans as they give people with limited resources and poor access to traditional banking an alternative means for economic empowerment. A key aspect of LEAP is to create additional windows of opportunity by providing supplementary training and mentorship in the local villages. For example, courses in cash flow management, life skills, and enterprise development are culturally appropriate and emphasize the importance of shared responsibility to families and communities. LEAP also involves local community leaders and officials so that Savings and Credit Group members receive support at all levels of society.

LEAP brings a spirit of hope and future to our HIV support groups. What can be more healing? The scheme is ingenious. Eyes light up when support group members speak about LEAP. And vice versa. A number of Savings and Credit Group members (that are not in HIV support groups) have come forward to get tested. Some are now on ARVs . . . The greatest bonus point of combining HIV/AIDS education with LEAP is the de-stigmatising aspect when people meet.     —LEAP Partner

In recent years, LEAP has expanded its work in the Matatiele and Mt. Fletcher areas where Vesper also supports the Masangane HIV/AIDS Programme. For many of the households involved, LEAP literally is another lifeline. For others, particularly women, it enables them to move out of the shadow economy into the economic mainstream. As Anton Krone, SaveAct’s director, often says, the promise of LEAP is “the multiplier effect . . . financial, human, and social capital is mobilized into productive activity with benefits and profits retained by enterprises and the Savings and Credit Groups.” Community-managed savings and credit groups are another blow against apartheid’s bleak legacy by promoting individual and communal agency over an emphasis on state delivery, which so often entrenches dependency.

To learn more about LEAP, contact .

January 2010