. The delegation observed over-reliance on service providers for activities that the project beneficiaries themselves could implement. One of the worst experiences during the oversight was a case in Diyatalawa where Department of Public Works and Rural Development in the Free State procured services of consultants to cultivate and plant backyard gardens for residents of Diyatalawa. The initiative undermined the efforts by government to empower rural people and ensure that they took charge of their own destiny.