NPO funds to be ‘slashed’
The services of several non-profit organisations, including Child Welfare in Phoenix, Verulam and oThongathi, could be drastically affected from September 1 after they were told last week by the Department of Social Development that their state subsidies
STRUGGLING NPOs, including those set up for children, the disabled and the elderly, fear they would lose key personnel, including social workers, once the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development (DSD) starts to cut back on subsidies.
They’ve reacted with shock and outrage to the proposed cutbacks, lambasting the department for allegedly failing to properly inform and consult with them.
According to the chairman of Phoenix Child Welfare, Sharm Maharaj, several NPOs were notified verbally last week at DSD offices in Phoenix about 50% cutbacks, which will be effective from September 1.
This resulted in concerned NPOs from around the city rallying together to protest against what they have deemed an injustice by the government.
They are demanding that the department, which allegedly failed to notify them in writing about its intention, shelve its plans, or the protests could escalate.
The spokesman of a specially formed nine-member NPO task team, Gerhard Botha, told POST a meeting would be convened this Friday to address the issue before meeting Social Development MEC Weziwe Thusi at her office in Pietermaritzburg on August 30 to plead with her to terminate the process.
“The subsidy cuts will kill a lot of NPOs, the department cannot make unilateral decisions,” said Botha.
Abuse
Last Friday at the protest, a memorandum was handed to a senior DSD official, Manju Moodley, in her office. But she declined to accept it from protesters, who carried placards reading “Abuse will increase”, “Women will suffer” and “Cutbacks affect communities”.
Maharaj said the DSD had decided to rationalise services, and cut costs. He said that at Phoenix Child Welfare they had 12 professional social workers whose salaries were subsidised by the government.
“We were told to reduce our social workers to six and that we needed one supervisor, not two. Our administrative staff must be reduced from 13 to four. This information was conveyed to staff called to a meeting, and not to management. Now we find that DSD is denying the cutbacks,” said Maharaj.
Regardless of this, he said they intended to launch a home for abandoned children. “We need to make an impassioned plea to the MEC and the Minister (Bathabile Dlamini) to put a stop to this. NPOs are the soul of our society and they will rob us of this soul.
“Nelson Mandela said we must care for our children, and if the department takes away crucial subsidies, our services that strive to help the poorest of the poor communities will be reduced.”
He said there were a variety of social issues affecting the youth and families, including drug and alcohol abuse and violence against women and children.
Maharaj questioned what would happen to the beneficiaries of their services if staff cutbacks went ahead. “We are the footsoldiers doing the ground work but we need government’s support.”
He said it was the industry norm that one social worker oversees around 60 cases. “But our social workers handle more than 150 cases at a time. If our staff are reduced, the remaining few social workers will be inundated.”
Maharaj said working with abused children did not entail a once-off visit but months of intense follow-ups, which included going before courts. “It’s tedious work.” Maharaj said an entry level social worker based at NPOs earned around R11 000 with no benefits, which was half the salary of those employed directly by the DSD. He said the NPOs were contemplating seeking a legal opinion.
The deputy president of Verulam Child Welfare, Sava Naicker, said they were informed they would need to reduce their social workers from 11 to seven and required one administrator instead of six.
“I think the department is not looking at it carefully. We have so many informal areas that we cover, including Inanda, Buffelsdraai, Redcliff, Cottonlands, Waterloo and Central Verulam.
“I am really upset. What they are doing is unethical. They haven’t properly consulted with us,” Naicker said. “I don’t know on what basis they have made these cuts. Are they thumb-sucking the figures?
“They say they are doing this under the basis of rationalisation. I am under the impression they want to transfer resources from urban to rural areas, but without consultation.”
Naicker said Verulam Child Welfare had a backlog of cases.
“Each social worker has to cover a huge area. If you reduce the staff, how will they manage?”
He said he had e-mailed a senior departmental official to provide feedback in writing on what was going on, but had not received a response.
“What are we supposed to do with the four social workers? Fire them?”
Job losses
Harold Maistry of Tongaat Child Welfare said their social worker staff had to be chopped from 10 to seven.
“The issue is not the job losses but the impact on the services to communities. If NPO services are removed, the impact will be great.”
Maistry said he could not understand the rationale behind the decision.
He said that in reality, the DSD was non-existent in communities where NPOs operated. “Their impact is minimal.” Rajish Lutchman of the Aryan Benevolent Home said its VJ Kara Centre in Glencoe would be affected and that since April the department had not paid subsidies.
They are currently using bridging finance but these funds are exhausted and the centre’s electricity could be cut.
“We won’t take what is happening sitting down,” said Lutchman.
The provincial director for the Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities KZN, Cheryl Naidoo, said: “We service 25 000 people with disabilities annually, and if they withdraw funding, we can’t reach that target. We have people in rural communities who will no longer have social worker services.”
The DA spokesman for social development in KZN, Rishigen Viranna, said the department was still denying they would decrease NPO subsidies.
“There seems to be a directive from within the department that communication must be done verbally and not in writing, so it can be denied.”
He said a similar problem was happening in Glencoe, Dundee, and Port Shepstone and Marburg on the KZN South Coast.
“The staff in the district offices speak one thing and the MEC says another to the provincial legislature and the portfolio committee. Either she is trying to hide something or she does not know what is happening at the district offices.
“We wrote to the chairman of the portfolio committee last month but we have not received a response. We will be writing again.”
The MEC’s media liaison officer, Ncumisa Ndelu, said the relationship between the department and its service providers was governed by a formal service level agreement.
“If there are any changes to the contract that exists between the department and the funded NPOs, that will be done in writing.”
She said the process of reviewing current trends in the provision of services by the department and those offered by NPOs was under way.
“When the review is completed NPOs will be fully consulted. No decision has been taken.”
Ndelu said that the country was going through a tough economic phase and that the almost zero economic growth was having adverse effects on the ability of the State to raise revenue.
“The re-determination of services will result in a more efficient and cost-effective delivery of services between the State and the NPOs without duplication,” she said. “Service delivery will not be affected. It will also help in achieving spatial distribution of services to areas previously un-serviced or under-serviced.”