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Sanca Soweto embroiled in cascade of critical governance and financial lapses as staff go unpaid

Sanca Soweto embroiled in cascade of critical governance and financial lapses as staff go unpaid
Takudzwa Pongweni
By Takudzwa Pongweni
25 Jun 2024
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Concerned staff members and a board member have blown the whistle on the community-based substance abuse rehabilitation centre, detailing a cascade of governance failures, financial mismanagement and allegations of neglect towards beneficiaries.

The South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Sanca) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to addressing issues related to alcoholism and drug dependence through prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

Sanca’s Soweto branch specifically serves that community by providing support, education and treatment services to individuals and families affected by substance abuse.

Recently, concerns over governance, financial mismanagement, nepotism and inadequate support for beneficiaries have come to light. Fearing reprisals, insiders spoke anonymously to Daily Maverick.

“It is sad what is happening to this organisation … we all know the substance abuse situation in Soweto and that is why we are fighting so hard to fix things. What is happening there is a mess and we need to intervene,” said a board member. 

Governance lapses


A letter sent to the Gauteng Department of Social Development (DSD) on 7 December 2023 highlighted critical lapses in governance, underscoring potential risks to the organisation’s financial health and operational integrity.

The letter, which Daily Maverick has seen, lamented the dissolution of the management board during a pivotal meeting in December 2023 and said such a move left a troubling governance vacuum, jeopardising essential oversight functions normally carried out by the board.

“There are critical governance lapses at Sanca Soweto that pose potential financial and operational risks. The full and effective functioning of Sanca Soweto will be affected severely by this vacuum,” read the letter.

On 29 November 2023, Sipho Nyembe, the treasurer of the organisation,  sent a memorandum to the Sanca Soweto board outlining serious concerns around its financial management and questioned if the financial policy of the organisation had been flouted.

“These allegations of financial misconduct, if not investigated and addressed, mean future funding for Sanca Soweto is at risk of being disbursed irregularly and diverted to causes other than those stipulated on funding agreements,” read the memorandum. 

Nyembe, who was appointed in March 2022, revealed that the organisation's financial policy was deliberately withheld from him, despite its existence being misrepresented by the director during a board meeting on 25 November 2023.

The memo highlighted specific breaches of the financial policy on procurement, including the failure to obtain required quotations for expenses exceeding R10,000 and irregularities in the approval process for expenditures such as the R426,560 spent on a solar system and office furniture in 2019.

Nyembe’s memo states that this “procurement did not fully meet the full prescripts of procurement clauses 5.1; 5.2; & 5.3 of Sanca Soweto’s financial policy and therefore is classified as irregular expenditure”.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Gauteng non-profits face closure after province cuts funding

Nyembe also raised the alarm over an outstanding debt of R293,950, which management had allegedly written off without board approval, exacerbating the organisation’s financial crisis and necessitating a 10% salary cut for employees. 

“It is disconcerting that with the financial crisis the organisation is experiencing, management has not endeavoured to collect this debt which would have ensured employees are not obligated to take a 10% salary cut going forward,” read the memo.

Nyembe states that Shiluva Nkwinika, the director of Sanca Soweto, obstructed his oversight role by withholding necessary documentation for the quarterly executive report, and called for a forensic investigation into financial mismanagement over the past 20 months.

“The detail presented in this memorandum reveals that the concerns highlighted are of serious nature. The Management Board is required to act swiftly and implement the recommendations preferably before the upcoming AGM and before the organisation recess for the festive season,” read the memorandum. 

On 8 March, the chairperson of the Sanca Soweto board, Themba Khanyile, issued a staff notice that Nkwinika was suspended pending an internal investigation due to take place from 8 to 20 March 2024 and that Nthabiseng Nzama would act as director of Sanca Soweto during the investigation. The outcome of this investigation has not been communicated to staff members. 

Nkwinika did not respond to emailed questions or a follow-up call. 

No salaries


The situation worsened in early 2024 when the Department of Social Development suspended Sanca Soweto’s subsidy due to outstanding compliance issues, and this has affected the organisation’s ability to pay salaries. The department would not elaborate on the reasons for suspending the subsidy.

Despite management’s assurances that the issues would be resolved, employees have not received salaries for the past two months, sparking complaints and legal action.

A worker from one of the Sanca Soweto offices told Daily Maverick that staff had not received their salaries since April. 

“The current director, Nthabiseng Nzama, constantly undermines social workers. She once said social workers are stupid … that they only know how to deal with people’s emotions and she knows how to work in the corporate world and deal with huge sums of money as she is a businesswoman, but she is unable to fundraise for staff to get salaries,” said the worker. 

On 14 June, five employees approached the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration regarding the non-payment of salaries.

“Director Nthabiseng told the commissioner that currently Sanca is under investigation. They were told by DSD that they must start afresh and reapply for a subsidy, and the new application will take time so it means we’re going to have to wait for salaries until the end of August. They are not even sure whether they will get money at that time, yet they still expect us to come to work,” said the worker. 

On 20 June, a memorandum to staff noted that the organisation is aware of outstanding salary payments.

“Management is actively working to secure funding to address this situation ... Consequently, we kindly request staff members to consider volunteering their services starting from July 1, 2024,” read the memo.

One worker voiced concerns, saying it was evident that management did not consider how this would impact staff.

“We have children who are still in school. We need to pay for transport to work. We need to buy food. Some of us are breadwinners … already people are no longer coming to work daily – where are they going to get money for transport? They don’t care about the staff,” the worker said. 

Poor working conditions


Daily Maverick spoke to four Sanca employees who voiced concerns about working conditions. 

“We have been having these challenges from previous directors; however, with the current director and her management team, things have gone out of control,” said one worker who asked not to be named. 

Employees are expected to use their personal cell phones to render services to the community, and the offices are not furnished with the necessary equipment. There are frequent plumbing issues and security concerns in the office as doors do not lock and there are no security personnel. 

“We are unable to conduct home visits even though the organisation has five cars. We use our own cars and fuel to conduct home visits and give hope to the community that we serve … all the cars are used by the management team for personal reasons,” she said. 

Another worker said that some of the issues, such as non-payment of salaries, have been recurring since 2009. 

“The problem with Sanca is that even if you elect new board members, the same things keep happening and nothing changes. We don’t know when this is going to stop … we have written letters to DSD telling them what is happening but nothing happens,” she said. 

Bearing the brunt 


Many who spoke to Daily Maverick expressed concerns that issues plaguing the Sanca were also impacting the community the organisation is meant to serve.

Its website states that Sanca Soweto offers a basket of services as a leader in the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders, including therapeutic treatment, medical intervention, statutory intervention, drug testing, home visits and referral to skills development projects. 

“In 2023, DSD gave the organisation R1-million to render prevention and awareness programmes to the community. We do not know where the money is going because community members are asking every day what’s happening… there are areas in the community where we cannot render services because there are no activities done by the organisation and they say there is no money for such,” said one worker.

Silence from authorities  


Daily Maverick sent questions on 22 May to the Gauteng Department of Social Development and followed up on 27 May but received no response. Questions were sent to Sanca Soweto on 23 May, to no avail.

On 28 May, Nthabiseng Nzama, director of the organisation, said she would respond to the questions by 3 June. On 28 May, Themba Khanyile, chairperson of the organisation, called Daily Maverick and said the board members would be meeting on 8 June and, after that, he would respond to questions. Khanyile asked for the questions, which were sent to Sanca Soweto’s email address, to be sent to his private email address. Daily Maverick compiled.

On 10 June, Khanyile called Daily Maverick to say he would respond by the end of the week. As of 20 June, Sanca Soweto has yet to respond. DM

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