Poverty continues to be one of the biggest development challenges in the new democratic South Africa. Recently, the country
has been experiencing several violent protests in poverty stricken townships and localities. Hence, this study aims to explore
the attitudes and perceptions of officers and community representatives regarding the local municipalities poverty alleviation
efforts in Polokwane, Lepelle-Nkumpi and Aganang local municipalities in Limpopo. Techniques such as analysis of secondary
data, interviews, group discussions and questionnaire were used to collect data. Results from interviews and group discussions
depict that poverty alleviation is still remaining behind as there is high level of unemployment, projects are collapsed and
initiatives are limited in local areas. The attitudinal analysis also depicts that despite efforts made by the local municipalities,
poverty continues to be a serious challenge in the study areas. Likewise, the analysis on the degree of response revealed the
key factors that affect the local poverty alleviation, inter alia: shortage of funding or staffing; lack of meaningful participation of
the poor; lack of commitment from stakeholders; and having less power to make decisions over programming and spending.
Therefore, it is recommended that the local municipality should focus on: increasing meaningful local participation in
development process; build the institutional capacity; and promote the partnership among public, private and civil societies at
the local level. Moreover, local municipalities need more autonomy over programming and resource allocation.