Members of non-profit organizations funded by the Gauteng Social Development Department protested last week over delays in funding allocation and grant payments. (Masego Mafata/GroundUp)
- A non-profit organization in Gauteng has sued the Department of Social Development over delays in funding and grants.
- The Gauteng High Court has ordered the department to finalize funding applications submitted by NPOs and issue service level agreements by the end of May.
- The court ruled that the money owed by the organization must be paid within seven days of signing the contract.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday issued an order ordering the provincial Department of Social Development to address the funding crisis facing non-profit organisations in the province, Ground Up reported.
In an urgent matter brought before the court by the Gauteng Health Crisis Committee (GCCC), a voluntary organisation of not-for-profit organisations in Gauteng, Judge Ingrid Opperman ruled that the department must:
- We will complete our funding review for all social service organizations that have submitted applications by Friday, May 24th.
- We will issue service level agreements to all successful organizations by May 30th.
- You will pay all amounts due to the Organization within seven days of entering into the Service Level Agreement.
- Submit a report by June 7 containing a list of all organizations that have been approved for funding, and upon request, provide a list of organizations that have not been approved for funding, with reasons why. The report should also include a list of all organizations that have been approved for funding but have not yet finalized service level agreements.
The GCCC said in court that the order ensures that authorities end long and confusing proceedings against organizations that provide social services to vulnerable groups in the state, including children and youth centres, women's shelters and homes for the severely disabled. He argued that it was necessary to do so.
This year, the department changed its funding review process and appointed an external committee to select which organizations receive funding.
At the same time, a series of forensic audits launched by the department over the past year have contributed to delays in the funding process.
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Almost two months into the new financial year, some organizations that have received funding from the department for decades have yet to receive confirmation of their funding for the 2024/25 financial year.
Some organisations have been forced to close, others are limiting the services they offer, and many are on the verge of closure.
GCCC Chair Lisa Betten said in her founding affidavit that only a “limited number” of organizations had been informed of their successful applications for funding.
Betten said the organizations expected the award process to be completed by the end of February, but the process was completed in early April, after the new financial year began.
Last Friday, groups picketed in front of the ministry's headquarters, demanding immediate payment of subsidies and a service level agreement.
The picketing came after Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi promised earlier in the week to reverse budget cuts to the department, pay subsidies by May 24 and consider complaints about service level agreements.
Lawyer Ori Ben-Ziv, representing GCCC, told the court on Wednesday that the ministry's uncertainty and delays were why the supervisory court's order was necessary.