Note to editors: Please find attached English soundbite by Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL.
Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) in Gauteng are under severe strain due to ongoing delays and uncertainty in the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s (GDSD) funding process. Over 10 days into the new financial year, and NPOs have not yet received their subsidy.
These setbacks are disrupting critical social welfare services and putting vulnerable communities at risk. The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for urgent intervention from the MEC for Social Development, Nomantu Ralehoko-Nkomo, to prevent further harm.
Many NPOs have not yet received updates on the status of their funding applications and have not yet signed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). They have complained that this uncertainty is making effective planning impossible and delaying the recruitment of essential staff.
Without confirmed funding, NPOs cannot appoint staff, yet they are expected to be fully operational as soon as funding is approved. This contradiction leads to delayed recruitment and disrupts service delivery to vulnerable communities. The SLA conditions require NPOs to return funding if a position is vacant for more than three months. NPOs do not deliberately leave positions vacant; they do so due to funding delays. Therefore, it is unjust and unreasonable to require them to return the allocated funds.
Additionally, if NPOs take the risk of hiring staff from 1 April in anticipation of funding, they are not permitted to back-pay employees once funds are received. As a result of these ongoing challenges, many NPOs are now limited to offering fixed-term contracts instead of permanent employment. This undermines job security and affects the stability and quality of services they provide.
The DA has been calling for the NPO funding adjudication process to commence as early as September each year to ensure vulnerable residents receive uninterrupted essential services such as food, care, and shelter. We have further called for timely communication of the adjudication process and fair implementation of SLA conditions.
The DA will table questions to MEC Nkomo-Ralehoko to ascertain why NPO Service Level Agreements (SLAs) remain unpaid. Gauteng’s NPOs cannot continue to be undermined by a department that appears unable to self-correct, regardless of who is in charge.
The DA is the only party with a proven track record of successfully implementing a transparent and fair adjudication process for NPO funding, by initiating the process early to prevent delays, ensuring proper planning and readiness. Gauteng’s NPOs and the communities they serve deserve this high standard of excellence from us, and we are ready to deliver it.