The aim of this article is to determine the income and expenditure patterns of the employed, unemployed and not economically active populations of selected rural communities in the Nwanedi River Basin and to compare them with poor townships in Soweto. The article analyses the poverty gap of every household. Due to the sensitivity of households about their income, the questionnaire surveys the expenditure in great detail to determine monthly expenditure. Not surprisingly, many households have a higher expenditure per month than their income. Some respondents refused to divulge their income and in other cases it is obvious that the income is too low to afford the expenditure per month. These and other problems create the opportunity to solve these issues in this article. The selected villages form part of the Vhembe District Municipality of Limpopo and are arguably the poorest area in South Africa. Soweto is a world-renowned city with