NPO Help Desk Walk-In-Centre is closed under Alert Level 4 regulations

In light of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of the shift in the COVID-19 Risk Adjusted Strategy to Alert Level 4, the NPO Help Desk situated at 7 Wale Street, Cape Town will be closed until further notice.

The Western Cape Department of Social Development’s (DSDs) NPO Help Desk will continue to assist organisations via email, and also have a drop box for those opting to hand deliver registration and compliance documents.

NPOs can access the service by emailing npo.helpdesk@westerncape.gov.za.

The NPO Help Desk was established to assist with registration support, compliance status information, NPO training, and certificate distribution. 

NPOs provide essential services to communities across the Western Cape and thus, are required to practice good governance, transparency and accountability.

The NPO Directorate within the Department of Social Development registers organisations under the Non-Profit Organisations Act No. 71 of 1997. The primary purpose of this Act is to encourage and support organisations in a wide range of work they do by:

· Creating an enabling environment for NPOs to flourish.

· Setting and maintaining adequate standards of governance, accountability and transparency.

The Act provides a voluntary registration facility for NPOs.

As part of the national ‘Know Your Status Campaign,’ NPOs are encouraged to use the provincial DSD NPO Help Desk to determine their compliance status. 

Many organisations have reported that they don’t know their status, or didn’t know they had to submit annual reports. Nationally, 54% are non-compliant. When NPOs visit the Help Desk, those with outstanding reports will be provided with the necessary support and documentation to facilitate compliance.