Red tape holds up NGO funding

NGOs in Buffalo City Metro claim that vulnerable vulnerable people are being left without food, medicine and vital supplies at homes for the disabled, elderly and other state-funded NGOs.

This is due to administrative hurdles demanding the homes that require the centres to secure approval to use the money already been allocated to them.

But the Eastern Cape department of social development has hit back at the NGOs, accusing them of flouting the requisition policy that has been in place since 2012.

The centres, which care for young children, the disabled and the elderly, claim they are now unable to pay their staff despite their funding being approved.

Department spokesperson Mpumzi Zuzile said the stringent measure had been put in place after the Auditor General made negative findings against the department and flagged the lack of oversight on NGO spending.

“The department is trying to ensure the policy is being properly adhered to. “The requisition forms are required to show how the money is going to be used so that it can be justified and corruption can be rooted out to prevent negative findings from the AG for a third year in a row.”

Zuzile said the NGOs have received letters notifying them that the funds have been approved and they would be distributed pending their submission of quarterly requisition forms.

But one NGO, which looks after intellectually impaired children in East London, said they were in crisis despite receiving confirmation of their subsidy in April.

The manager, who asked not to be named for fear of being victimised, said: “We received our allocation in June but we can’t access it. “We made the requisition, but when you deal with old people, you don’t have time.

“I’ve never had payment glitches in all these years I have worked with the department.

“We are in a crisis — I won’t lie. My workers were last paid on March 29. I submitted all the required documentation and the money was paid, but we are still waiting [to be allowed to access it].

She explained that the department still had to verify the documentation that she had submitted before she could access the funds.

“We have struggled with purchasing food. I’m not getting paid by the state either.

“We have not bought [clothing] for these children who play sport, we have fallen behind in everything.”

The centre has promised to backpay its workers.

“They are also human beings; they understand when the money has not come through, but when we say money is already approved, they don’t understand it at all.”

Outside BCM, an old age centre which also runs a soup kitchen for the homeless at the Chris Hani district municipality, said they ran out of medical supplies towards the end of June.

On Thursday, more than 10 centres across the province were contacted, and shared their experiences about being affected by the policy.

However, by the time of publication, most refused to have their names published, claiming intimidation from social development officials.

An NGO that has cared for intellectually impaired children in Buffalo City Metro for more than 10 years said parents were pressuring them due to the shortfalls.

“For many years, we have received funding, but this year we were told to make a requisition.

“I received our funds last week, but we’re unable to use them to pay our employees because the department hasn’t approved them.

“Before the schools closed, we ran out of food and toilet supplies and this put us in trouble with parents.

“We receive about R244 per child and we need to cater for a lot of needs in our centre.”

The school has more than 100 pupils and received its subsidy at the beginning of July, three months after its last payment.

“We asked to be reimbursed because we had to borrow money to keep our centres running.”

The Ekhaya eMncotsho Home for the Aged in Mdantsane has also not yet received funding from the provincial department despite officials visiting the site for verification.

The centre, which caters for 41 elderly people with six staff, said they were working with the little they had.

Manager Lindelwa Magadla said they were “operating in distress”.

“Funding for these centres is in crisis. “A large number of our people suffer from dementia and constantly need to take their medication.

“We have a small car here that has been parked for some time because there’s no petrol.“W have staff who we haven’t been paid, and we rely on patients’ social grants to keep us running.

“We need funding for upkeep and to pay staff.

“At the moment, we rely on donations — we received donations from the lottery and prison warders recently.

“From time to time Gift of the Givers gives us food, but it is not enough.”

Several centres said they were given a tongue-lashing for speaking to the media on Thursday afternoon.

Scores of NGOs have vowed to protest on Monday to force social development MEC Bukelwa Fanta to step in.

Eastern Cape activist Petros Majola said the protest was a “radical move that might just be the solution to their struggle”.

“Usually, protests are done when all available avenues to resolve the issue have been explored.”

Majola emphasised that social development needed to be compelled to pay the NGOs.

“They have to report to the MEC, and if the MEC is aware the NGOs have not been receiving funding and said nothing about it, I would support them.”

Daily Dispatch