Relief as govt makes U-turn on NPOs funding cuts

There was a sigh of relief for the vulnerable people of South Africa after what seems like a U-turn by the government on the rechannelling of funds by the department of social development (DSD).

On Monday, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said on Radio 702 he would not allow the cuts to proceed and assured nongovernmental organisation (NGOs) that the issue would be resolved soon.

This after the Gauteng DSD announced a reduction of the nonprofit organisations (NPOs) funding by R62.1 million following the call to reprioritise the budget allocation earlier this month.

Democratic Alliance Gauteng shadow MEC for social development Refiloe Nt’sekhe said she was pleased to learn that Lesufi has intervened in the reprioritisation of the funds to the NPOs.

“If Lesufi was serious about reversing this decision, a virement needs to be done for the money given back to the NPOs that were affected by this decision,” she said.

Nt’sekhe said during the reprioritisation of funds, R71.5 million was moved from the NPOs that cared for the elderly, R50 million was moved from the disabled persons NPOs’ budget, R238.6 million was moved from HIV/Aids and children NPOs’ budget, R57 million moved from care and services to families NPOs’ budget, R70 million taken from child and youth care centres, R46.5 million was moved from the community-based care for children NPOs’ budget.

The CMR Gauteng-East child and family care organisation was among the many to close their doors until further notice following the announcement by the DSD.

CMR Pretoria director Henda van der Merwe said all services were being referred to the DSD for handling.

“We have been warning for years that NGOs’ task is getting bigger, but the available means are getting smaller,” she said.

Van der Merwe said the impact of these rebates (CMR Gauteng-East faces a 61% rebate) meant where they served 28 676 people in 2022 they would now be able to assist less than 10 000.

At least 55 of their staff members could lose their jobs.

CMR Gauteng East has 13 satellite offices across Pretoria and handles about 30 000 cases a year.

“As a child protection organisation, we want to emphasise that people would have nowhere to go. Children who are molested, abused, neglected, who will stand up for them?” she asked.

Gauteng Welfare, Social Service and Development Forum chair Bishop Les Sanabria said they were glad to hear the premier has acknowledged his mistake.

“But he is not right when he says he asked for an audit,” he said.

Sanabria said they haven’t seen anything in writing, but noted an urgent meeting was called to discuss how to handle the situation.

“None of us have reopened our offices and have referred all cases to DSD. We don’t know if they can handle all the issues,” he said.