Note to editors: Please find the attached English and Sesotho soundbites by Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL.
Vulnerable residents of Gauteng continue to be denied access to essential welfare and social services because the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) has delayed funding payments to Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs). The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has written to the Public Protector and the Auditor-General (AG) to report payment delays severely affecting the NPOs.
The DA Gauteng warned that NPOs would struggle due to the late signing of Service Level Agreements (SLA). However, the GDSD accused us of making “unsubstantiated claims”. Yet, a recent Social Development Portfolio Committee oversight inspection uncovered that a training centre for post-rehabilitation individuals and homeless people had only received an acknowledgement letter and not signed an SLA, thus preventing it from getting funding.
In other NPO sectors, workers have not received salaries for April due to a lack of funding caused by the late payments. Many NPOs are also concerned about a new clause that has been added to the SLA that requires the chairperson of an NPO to be held personally liable for future activities relating to their organisation, such as violations or breaches of the agreement. Furthermore, there are those who have signed under duress, thinking that their NPOs will not receive funding if they don’t.
The department has missed its deadline for the signing of the SLAs and payments. This issue has been escalated to the Public Protector and the AG due to the impact on social welfare services and the failure to implement AG’s 2023/24 financial year recommendations. The DA will also table questions to MEC Mazibuko in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to ascertain the reasons behind the delay in paying qualifying NPOs.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would ensure that the NPO funding process is done within the stipulated standard timelines. This would help to repair the NPO-government working relationship damaged by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, former GDSD MEC Mbali Hlophe, and current MEC Faith Mazibuko.
The DA remains committed to ending the suffering of NPOs and their beneficiaries at the hands of a government that finds it fit to perpetuate poverty and suffering among those it should be doing everything to protect.