Kubayi, Sheila Halcyon2015-07-302015-07-302014http://hdl.handle.net/10539/18163Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2014.Vuk’uphile Learnership programme is a contractor development programme by the Government of South Africa aimed at developing emerging contractors into fully fledged contractors able to execute labour intensive projects. Despite government’s commitment to emerging contractor empowerment there are reports of poor performance by emerging contractors under the learnership, this includes contractor turnover, some of the projects undertaken had been abandoned, and some of the contractors or entities who participated in the programme were not in the construction industry anymore. This study examines progress of Vuk’uphile 2, whether it is achieving its intended objectives in the Eastern Cape or not. This study followed a qualitative approach, semi structured interviews and documentary analysis was used for collecting data. The findings indicate that the programme has a potential of utilizing infrastructure development projects to develop sustainable enterprises and draw significant numbers of people into meaningful participation in the construction industry. Of the contractors who completed the prescripts of the programme turned to be successful even after learnership. The study recommends that systems of selecting learners, trainers and mentors be strengthened and should be inducted on their respective roles in Vuk’uphile. Mentors should be afforded constant performance evaluation.enThesis