Welfare organisations unpaid for six months by Gauteng government

More than six months into the 2024/25 financial year, a number of non-profit organisations are still waiting for their subsidies from the Gauteng Department of Social Development. The reasons for non-payment vary, but they include documents being lost by the department.

Earlier this year, hundreds of organisations were left high and dry for two months due to the department’s failure to allocate funds in time. This resulted in severe underperformance by the department in the first quarter, particularly in its substance use treatment programmes. Several rehab centres have only recently received funding, after they were defunded because of a flawed forensic audit.

The majority of these non-profit organisations have been paid, but not all.

One organisation, which asked to remain anonymous, said they are still waiting for payments for the first and second quarters of the year, despite signing an interim service-level agreement in June.

At the end of August, the organisation contacted the department requesting an update on their funding. They were informed that the department had lost their documents, including their business plans from last year.

The organisation resubmitted the documents.

At a meeting in September, the department told them there was a glitch in the system and their payment “fell through the cracks”. They were assured they’d be paid shortly. They are yet to receive their funds. Also, their service-level agreement only covers the first two quarters and ends this month. The organisation has received no word about its funding for the third and fourth quarters.

Another organisation that did not receive funds is the Centre for Advancement to Independence through Motivation (AIM), a Johannesburg-based non-profit that runs a workshop for about 30 people with physical disabilities. It was told it was non-compliant. Andrew Jones, its treasurer, says the findings were “ridiculous”, because AIM has received funding for two decades.

Jones says they immediately dealt with the compliance issues, which included a spelling error in its name and the department wanting AIM to be uploaded as a supplier on the government database. The spelling issue was sorted before AIM signed its interim agreement for the first two quarters. It has yet to be paid.

Epilepsy SA, which runs several specialised epilepsy centres, has also struggled. It only received funding for two residential facilities two months into the financial year. Two of its programs are still without service agreements for the next two quarters. And despite signing a service-level agreement on 2 June, it has still not been paid for a workshop in Braamfontein that it runs for the first two quarters.

The program, which serves 47 people a month, is still running but without funds for food, so parents must send lunch boxes, said Aileen Langley, the Gauteng branch director.

Some new organisations are also waiting for the department to communicate with them. Bornservant, an outpatient drugs and alcohol assistance centre in Sharpville, serving 200 to 300 people a month, applied in 2023. At the beginning of this financial year, they were told they had been recommended for funding. In May, they signed a service-level agreement. But shortly thereafter, the department reversed its decision stating the agreement was invalid.

The Gauteng Department of Social Development did not respond to GroundUp’s questions. They have not responded to any of our numerous media queries since 3 July 2024.