Ministerial Statement on Changes to Departmental Funding for NGOs and NPOs

Statement by Minister Ivan Meyer, Western Cape Mec for Social Development

The Provincial Government of the Western Cape has completed a comprehensive audit of approximately 1800 NGOs and NPOs funded by the Department of Social Development to determine which service providers are providing the best quality of service to the people of the Western Cape.

During this time, a call for proposals from service providers in each of the Department of Social Development's 8 programmes has also been advertised and communicated to all existing Department service providers. This process has resulted in several hundred applications from NGOs and NPOs. In the week ahead these applications will be screened by an independent panel of experts, and recommendations will be made for funding recipients for the new financial year. There will be fewer NPOs and NGOs funded by the department in the coming financial year, and the focus will instead be on concentrating funding on those service providers which have strong track records (as reflected in the monitoring and evaluation reports compiled by the Department's Monitoring and Evaluation reports) and whose services most closely correspond to the Constitutional mandates and strategic objectives of the Department. This process was deemed necessary given that:

• Our province, like all other governments in South Africa, has seen a major reduction in its overall budget allocation from National Government due to the reduced tax income associated with the recession, so we have to work on providing the best possible services more cost-effectively


• The provincial administration has a new government with a new mandate from the electorate. We therefore have to ensure that all our services are aligned with the policy objectives that this government was elected to implement


• The NGO and NPO sector have indicated that funding is inadequate to provide quality services in many instances, so we have taken a policy decision to channel more funds into those NGOs and NPOs which are delivering the best quality of services and which are most aligned with the Department's needs and priorities


• There is a need to clamp down on wasteful expenditure and corruption in the social services sector. In this regard, the Department of Social Development is carrying out forensic audits on two district offices where prima facie evidence of corruption has been detected, namely the Caledon and Khayelitsha offices.

The new, more transparent and rigorous funding system for NPOs and NGOs introduced by this government is a response to all of these factors.

I would like to emphasise that we recognise the valuable contribution which our best NPO and NGO service providers are making in our communities. Given that our current economic circumstances force us to do more with less, and given that we are committed to service excellence, this government intends to empower the best NPO and NGO bodies to further improve and expand their services to the people of this province, while also ensuring that the public is getting value for money.