The LMRF held the inaugural meeting of its founding members on Friday, 11th December 2009. The venue and lunch was provided for free by the Standard Bank in their meeting room.

The meeting was opened with an update of where things are. It then identified a number of issues that will guide and strengthen LMRF as it moves forward as an independent company. It recognised that there is a lot of work to be done and the LMRF being unique which is a real opportuinity to capitalise on.

Mid February next year there will be an official founding members meeting where a broad plan of how LMRF will work will be created.

The LMRF is now officially registered with the following details:

Registration Number: 2009/023881/08
Enterprise Name: LED Monitoring and Research Facility
Enteprise Type: Section 21

Please note that the LMRF can now be found at the following address:

294/6 Mathews Meyiwa Street
(formely Stamford Hill)
Durban
4001

Our new Telephone and Fax Number:

Tel: 031 303 1247
Fax: 031 303 1248
E-mail: admin@lmrf.org.za

Project Director: Bongani Matomela
bongani.matomela@lmrf.org.za
Research Manager: David Christianson
david.christianson@lmrf.org.za
Marketing and Communications Officer: Bongi Bhengu
bongi.bhengu@lmrf.org.za
Website Address: www.lmrf.org.za

For further details please visit our team page under About LMRF or please do give us a call.

On June 17 and 18, 2009, LMRF and the M&E unit of DED delivered the Introductory Workshop of the 2009/2010 Emerging Researchers Capacity Enhancement Programme (ERCEP) in the Balmoral Hotel, Durban. It is already the 3rd time the LMRF and DED run this programme with Petra Penninkhoff, of Royal Tropical institute in the Netherlands as the principal trainer.

Bongani Matomela, LMRF Director

From June 01, 2009 LMRF is moving towards becoming an independent entity. The European Union financial support to the LMRF implemented by a consortium led by the Netherlands based Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Ruicon cc, and Centre for Development Support of the University of Free State, came to an end on May 31, 2009.

Registration of the LMRF (to be named LED Monitoring and Research Facility) as a section 21 company, is in full swing and will be completed at the end of June 2009. Founding members of the new company have been drawn from the development and private sectors across KZN province and beyond.

In order to improve service delivery the South African government has identified M&E as a priority for all public sector institutions. It has developed a programme called Government Wide Monitoring and Evaluation (GWM&E). The new ANC government has continued to put M&E at the top of the agenda. In his address to the British Business Conference, the Treasurer for ANC, Mr Mathews Phosa, stated that the new ANC government will not change existing government policies, but will rather strengthen and improve the M&E capacities initiated by the previous government in order to ensure service delivery improvement. The implication is that government institutions should prioritise M&E capacity building in order to ensure that this goal is realised.

Full Text:

FinMark Trust, the Learning, Monitoring and Research Facility (LMRF) for KwaZulu-Natal and the South African Local Economic Development Network co-hosted a seminar to highlighted and promote awareness of a new wave of microfinance that is sweeping through Africa. SaveAct and VSL & Associates were invited to share their experiences in this model. The seminar was well attended by organisations involved in pro-poor financial services, financial institutions, KZN government (Department of Economic Development), research institutions and NGOs. The programme was directed by the CEO of the South African Savings Institute (SASI), Mmakgoshi Phetla-Lekhethe. She opened the seminar with an overview of what SASI does and their analysis of the financial sector situation in relation to consumer behaviour and alarming levels of indebtedness versus a deteriorating culture of savings. Some of the worrying factors include the increased number of people registering for debt counselling (about 3 500 per month), while savings levels have decreased to 1% of household income. Below is a brief seminar report and two powerpoint presentations.

WHAT KIND OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?
AN ANALYSIS AND COMPARISON OF COMPETING VISIONS OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SA’S 2009 PARTY POLITICAL ELECTORAL MANIFESTOS

The term local economic development (LED) does not appear in the electoral manifestos of any of the parties contesting South Africa’s 2009 General Election. While disturbing, this does not mean that the parties’ positions on growth, employment, poverty, sustainable livelihoods, food security, institutional reform and policy innovation, all have implications for LED.

1. THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC)