The article presents the case studies of co-operatives which are established on the premise of alleviating poverty with special reference to selected provinces in South Africa from a comparative international perspective. The concept co-operative is developmentally focused, thus referring to member groups who share a common socio-economic interest. It fits into the developmental context of local government as part of the social security mainstream. The article addresses this issue: developing a right-based approach towards providing a proper safety net for the poor through amongst others, appropriate social assistance responses which extends partially to using legal strategies to ensure that social development approaches are given priority alongside economic development considerations. This article is limited to worker co-operatives in particular because they are directly involved in alleviating poverty in the country especially in t