Gauteng minister of social development apologises to NPOs for funding bungle

By Ihsaan Haffejee

22 Jul 2024

‘We as government and non-profit organisations cannot afford such a state of affairs,’ says Faith Mazibuko.

Gauteng MEC for Social Development Faith Mazibuko publicly apologised to nonprofit organisations during a media briefing on Sunday.

This follows a crisis in the province’s non-profit sector in which hundreds of organisations providing essential care services waited more than two months for subsidies from the Gauteng Department of Social Development.

The department pays about R1.9-billion in subsidies to more than 700 non-profit organisations every year. Delays were caused by drastic changes to the department’s funding process, including the appointment of external adjudicators. The process ultimately collapsed.

Among the organisations concerned were women’s shelters and drug rehabilitation centres that had no choice but to scale down their services and even close their doors.

Further delays

Further delays were caused by forensic investigations. Forensic auditors were appointed by the department in 2023 to probe allegations of maladministration and fraud in the non-profit sector. More than 50 organisations were flagged in the investigations and had their funding suspended, but after the findings were challenged by the organisations at least 34 of them have now been cleared and are receiving subsidies again.

On Sunday, Mazibuko together with Finance and Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile gave an update on the provincial government’s progress in finding a solution to the funding crises in the non-profit organisation sector.

Mazibuko highlighted the invaluable work done by these organisations that take care of our most vulnerable groups. She conceded that the past few months had seen the relationship severely strained.

“We are not ashamed to say, with few exceptions, that we are proud of the work the organisations do. As with any other relationship, things do fall apart, differences emerge, misunderstandings happen, trust is lost and sometimes break-ups happen. Despite all these, we as government and non-profit organisations cannot afford such a state of affairs,” said Mazibuko.

Mazibuko on behalf of the provincial government, then apologised and promised to prioritise improving the relationship between government and the organisations.

“On all occasions the department complied with the provisions of the court orders, and no orders of contempt were issued against the department, as was reported by some media houses,” said Mazibuko.

Read more: Silence rules – government spokespersons should take their job more seriously

Meanwhile, Maile said the provincial government was committed to ensuring that non-profit organisations were paid timeously so that they could provide much-needed services.

“An undertaking has been made by the Gauteng provincial government to reinstate the non-profit organisation budget to the 2023/24 adjustment budget of R2.1-billion. This represents growth of 13% against the 2023/24 actual expenditure to accommodate new applications for funding in the current financial year,” said Maile.

At least 13 organisations flagged by the audit were still under investigation, while six had been deemed non-compliant, he said.

Maile said that they were considering revising contracts with some organisation to extend them to a three-year term.

Mazibuko concluded by saying that this was an opportunity for the organisation to look for alternative funding partners.

“Government’s purse has not increased, we can’t sustain this,” said Mazibuko. DM

First published by GroundUp.

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Further delays