NGOs have funding withdrawn

THE NGO sector in the province is in distress after the pulling of funding by the department of social development.

NGOs affected by this include the National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders, which works with the rehabilitation of offenders, Family and Marriage of SA, and the Cape Flats Distress Association, which provides a variety of services in sub-economic areas in the southern suburbs.

The latest to face closure is the Amy Foundation, started by the mother of the American Fullbright Scholar who was killed in Gugulethu during a protest in 1993.

Having been around since 1997, the foundation provides after-school care programmes to develop, empower and educate youth living in challenged and vulnerable communities within the Western Cape. However, due to a lack of funds, it has been forced to scale back on its after-school centres.

Managing director of the Amy Foundation Kevin Chaplin said: “It’s the most frustrating thing I’ve experienced. New processes through the Department of Social Development are putting many of the wellestablished and respected organisations in jeopardy.”

The department requires Early Childhood Development centres to register first at NGOs such as Grassroots, which handles registrations for funding on behalf of the department. The registration is then submitted to the department.

Chaplin said the children who used the programmes would end up on the streets.

Mark Rossouw, chairperson of Cafda, said he does not understand why social development would pull funding from organisations which make a huge difference in many ommunities.

“There are many other organisations like Cafda which are affected by the funding challenges and at the end of the day it is the community that suffers.

“Someone has to tell us why they would do this. It’s the poorest of the poor who are suffering.”

MEC for social development Albert Fritz said: “We fund a number of organisations and what we want to see as a department is what impact these projects have. We cannot waste our money, we must see results.”

Fritz said a number of organisations that applied for funding missed the deadline.

“Its important to note that the department does not provide funding; we provide a subsidy to these organisations. They still have to raise funds and cannot rely on the department only to give them money.”