Stop the excuses and ensure every cent is spent

In 2015, the Daily Dispatch launched its Local Heroes campaign to celebrate the good being done in communities by selfless individuals. The intention was to offer readers a glimmer of hope amid an often bleak news cycle. The initiative has grown in leaps and bounds, to the point where nearly 50 hero nominees are featured during the year, culminating in a special ceremony where the top 12 are honoured. The nominees and the organisations they run all leave an indelible mark on our communities, whether they help children with their school work, feed the hungry, provide girls with much-needed sanitary products or even create jobs.

Crucially, they often step in and provide for people’s needs where state intervention is lacking.

The heroes featured on our pages represent a few of the many NGOS, non-profits and community-based organisations that are driven by the sole purpose of making a positive change.

The impact of their efforts is felt in a range of areas, including health, education, the environment, childhood development and the protection and advancement of human rights.

The work they do is crucial, particularly given the huge challenges experienced in so many of our communities.

It is therefore shocking to learn that the Eastern Cape department of social development has failed to spend more than R120m allocated to NGOS across the province.

The reason? The contract of the service provider that verifies details of the various organisations had lapsed, which meant that officials did not know who to give money to.

This isn’t the first time the department has been outed for underspending.

Earlier this year, the Dispatch reported that social development had to forfeit R67.7m to the National Treasury at the end of March.

This money was meant to provide food parcels to tens of thousands of residents who were going hungry. It also failed to spend nearly R12m to provide sanitary pads to young girls across the province.

While organisations are buckling under financial pressure to keep their doors open, the government is failing to spend millions of rand that could ease their burden.

Social development MEC Bukiwe Fanta is said to have issued a stern warning to managers about the latest failure to spend the allocated funds, but this will be cold comfort to the organisations which often encounter red tape and bureaucracy when applying for funds to continue their work.

The time has come to stop the excuses and hold accountable those officials who are responsible for this sorry state of affairs.

It is vital to ensure that every single cent allocated to organisations that help the needy is actually spent on those in desperate need of support.

Only then can the department truly say it is living up to its slogan: “Building a caring society. Together”.

The Dispatch reported that social development had to forfeit R67.7m to the National Treasury