Nonprofits face crisis as Gauteng Department of Social Development delays funding for third consecutive year

11 May 2025

Gauteng’s nonprofit sector is grappling with significant financial strain as funding from the Gauteng Department of Social Development has been delayed for the third consecutive year. With no payments since Tuesday, 1 April, many organisations are relying on community donations and depleting reserves to continue services for vulnerable populations. Without timely funding, many fear an imminent collapse of critical services in the provinces that are most vulnerable.

Hundreds of Gauteng nonprofit organisations (NPOs) are grappling with severe financial strain as the provincial Department of Social Development fails for the third consecutive year to deliver funding on time. Since Tuesday, 1 April 2025, many NPOs have been operating without subsidies, leaving them unable to pay staff, plan services, or meet the basic needs of vulnerable beneficiaries.

The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, a coalition of affected NPOs, has condemned the department’s continued non-compliance with its own funding policies. The committee warns that unless urgent action is taken, the province’s most essential social services — including care for persons with disabilities, survivors of gender-based violence, children, and the elderly — could grind to a halt.

Under the national Sector Funding Policy, renewal contracts should be signed two months before the previous financial year ends on 31 March. However, most organisations only received award letters on 31 March, many without specified funding amounts, and some are still waiting for contracts.

A Gauteng Care Crisis Committee survey of 105 member organisations revealed that:

51 received contracts for all services but have not been paid

29 received only partial contracts

25 have received no decision at all on their applications

Since organisations often run multiple programmes, the real number of affected services is significantly higher. Adding to the uncertainty, contracts worth more than R5-million have been stalled, awaiting approval from the department’s head of department.

Lisa Vetten, the chairperson of the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, pointed to recurring systemic issues over three years, particularly broken promises from the department regarding funding delays and Service Level Agreement compliance.

“There’s clearly issues about senior leadership here. There are questions here about senior leadership, it has clearly not stabilised. The former MEC, she’s been removed, but obviously the problem runs deeper than that, and we also see non-compliance with policy from the department,” she said.

Running on donations

Aileen Langley from Epilepsy SA Gauteng, the only national non-profit organisation in South Africa dedicated exclusively to providing specialised and comprehensive support to individuals with epilepsy and other disabilities, explained the significant financial strain they were under.

“The biggest impact is on our residential care and our protective workshops. We feed 300 people daily and we are currently relying on donations from the community of Springs, who have been absolutely great,” she said.

Langley added that the reality was that this scale of support was hard to sustain without consistent funding, and that at the end of April the organisation could only afford to pay staff half of their salaries.

She pointed to administrative delays, explaining that their regional office didn’t have any information and that they’d done their part in ensuring service level agreements were prepared.

“I think the problem with payment lies with the provincial office. For our residential programmes we haven’t even received the service level agreement because it must be signed by the HOD due to the budget amount,” she said.

This bureaucratic bottleneck leaves them with no clarity on when they might receive funds, and the organisation has already received a notice warning that their electricity could be cut.

Langley expressed fear of a repeat of last year, when the organisation was only paid in the last month of the first quarter. While she praised her committed team, she noted that this was not an ideal situation for any of the 46 staff members.

“People tend to think that it’s a hobby for them, but they’re all breadwinners, some are single parents with several children. This is actually a government responsibility to look after vulnerable people. NPOs have been doing this work since before government services even existed during the previous regime and into the current one, because they saw a need in communities,” she said.

Momentum killed by delays

Nhlanhla Zwane, from the African Youth Development Forum, an organisation that supports young people through development programmes and substance abuse prevention initiatives, expressed deep concern over the ongoing delays in funding.

“The biggest concern for us is the uncertainty. We are now in the second month of the financial year. The MEC handed out letters in March saying payment would be made on Tuesday, 15 April, but we didn’t receive any funding then. Another date was given after that, and it was also delayed,” said Zwane.

While they had received a letter confirming they would be funded, there was still no official service level agreement in place.

“Given the turbulence of the last couple of years, we don’t even know if we’re getting the same amount of funding, and now there’s uncertainty for our 60 staff members because we renew contracts yearly. If we keep the full team and funding is cut, we’ll have to let some people go, and we need to give them fair notice,” he said.

In addition to staffing, the organisation also faces fixed costs like rent and overheads, and has already spent its reserves in April to stay afloat.

Zwane also raised serious concerns about the disruption in programme implementation caused by the funding delays.

“When you implement these programmes, it’s about momentum. When we start in January, by now we’ve built momentum, but stopping in March because of lack of funding kills that momentum,” he said.

Not charity, but a constitutional duty

Vetten raised serious concerns about the structural power imbalance between the Department of Social Development and NPOs, explaining that the financial dependency allowed for a range of abuses to take place.

One current example, she said, involved department-funded vehicles. In some cases, the department had issued directives claiming the right to use vehicles purchased for NPOs and had expected those organisations to transport officials without compensation.

Even more alarming, Vetten said, was the legal risk being imposed on NPO leaders, with directors and board members expected to assume full personal liability for anything that might happen to the vehicle.

“Some organisations refused to sign the agreement in full, instead submitting declarations that they were signing under duress... but it is happening. I have voice notes from officials to this effect saying, ‘Sign this or you will not get funded.’ It’s that simple.”

Vetten referenced a landmark Free State court case that confirmed that when the Department of Social Development funded NPOs, it was fulfilling state obligations under Sections 27 and 28 of the Constitution, guaranteeing social protection and children’s rights.

“NPOs get subsidised in exactly the same way that the government subsidises schools and universities. They are helping the state meet constitutional obligations; it is exactly the same principle,” she said.

When the department cut or delayed funding without providing alternative services, it wasn’t just an administrative failure, it was a violation of rights. Such inaction amounted to a regressive realisation of constitutional rights, rather than their progressive expansion.

“The Department of Social Development is not doing organisations a favour. When the department presents statistics for its work and the targets it’s met, that’s not actually their work that they’re reporting on. They’re reporting on the work that NPOs have done, and that gets lost in much of the annual reports,” said Vetten.

“It is not the NGO that has the right to the funds, vulnerable people are entitled to those funds in terms of the Constitution. The NGO is the vehicle by which the right is delivered. Organisations need money in order to deliver and realise a right on behalf of the government.”

At time of publication, the Gauteng Department of Social Development has not responded to requests for comment. This article will be updated when a response is received. DM

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Running on donations

Momentum killed by delays

Not charity, but a constitutional duty