Key Highlights :
1. The Gauteng Department of Social Development denies claims it is defunding NPOs.
2. Some organisations under threat include those that support children, the elderly, and people living with HIV/Aids.
3. Funding for some organisations was reduced significantly, while others faced the risk of closing permanently.
4. NPO representatives – who attended a meeting with the department in Gallagher Estate, Johannesburg, on 5 April – said the department informed them about its plan to readjust its budget to address so-called elevated priorities.
5. The department told some organisations it would take over some services to rely less on them.
6. According to Vetten and DA MPL and Gauteng social development spokesperson Refiloe Nt'sekhe, the department had reduced the budget for transfers to NPOs by R62.1 million.
7. Nt'sekhe said the poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods programme budget, meanwhile, had more than doubled "although this programme has been underspending in the past five years".
8. The programmes that have had budget increases, some of their sub-programmes have been performing poorly and not meeting the targets … millions will be returned to the treasury due to the department's inability to deliver on these programmes.
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has denied claims it is defunding NPOs, which have expressed fears that such a move would put child protection and care in severe jeopardy.
The department released a statement on Friday denying that it is defunding NPOs and that it is in fact increasing funding for these organisations.
The statement reads: "The Gauteng Department of Social Development wishes to state categorically that it is not defunding NPOs and that it is in fact increasing funding for these organisations."
The department says that it has increased the allocation for NPOs by R1.5 billion over the next three years.
The NPOs in question are concerned that the department's intentions are to reduce the number of NPOs in order to centralise more authority in the hands of government.
The department has responded to these concerns by stating that it is committed to working with NPOs to improve the quality of child protection and care in Gauteng.
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