Note editors: Please find the attached English and Sesotho soundbite by Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL.
Poor planning by the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) has led to delays in the signing of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) by NPOs, which will prolong their funding payments. The DA Gauteng demands that Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Social Development MEC Faith Mazibuko urgently address this situation affecting NPOs. This further aggravates the situation for thousands of vulnerable residents deprived of essential welfare and social services due to this department’s failure to implement a proper funding process for NPOs.
MEC Faith Mazibuko announced that a signing ceremony would be held at the Johannesburg City Hall on 31 March 2025. However, on arrival, the NPOs were only given information about the funding process and appointment letters rather than signing the SLAs. Attendees of the event reported that it was poorly planned and chaotic.
SLA signing only commenced on the 14th of April. This is normally the period when NPOs start receiving their first subsidy payments. Delays in finalising SLAs have serious implications for NPO funding which severely affects their beneficiaries. If a GBV-based NPO is not funded, women and young girls are left at the mercy of their perpetrators; an unpaid drug rehab NPO results in people being denied the opportunity to be rehabilitated.
This is a glaring example of Premier Panyaza Lesufi and MEC Mazibuko’s failure to effectively plan and implement processes within this department to benefit the poor and vulnerable in our province.
The DA Gauteng will continue to pressure MEC Mazibuko to ensure SLAs are signed and processed without irregularities.
A caring DA-led Gauteng provincial government would have ensured the entire NPO funding process was well planned and implemented. We will rebuild the trust that NPOs and the welfare sector have lost in the current government’s management of the funding process. In addition, ensure NPO operations are not disrupted by late payments.