MEC addresses issue of non-payment to NPOs

The Gauteng Department of Social Development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza held a media briefing about delayed payments to Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) in the province on May 24.

Mayathula-Khoza said: “Gauteng Provincial Government-funded Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) are unhappy that they have not been paid their first quarter allocations on time.”

“This unhappiness is understandable because they have bills to pay and this delay disrupts their operations.”

According to the MEC, the department had meetings with NPOs where 2017/2018 audit findings indicated that

many of the NPOs did not comply with the NPO Act as they are required to.

“I explained that we thus had to go through a process of vetting each one of them afresh before signing the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the 2018/19 financial year.”

Mayathula-Khoza said at the beginning of the financial year they expected to sign 2 369 SLAs.

“So far 1 794 have been signed which represents 76 per cent of our NPOs population.”

To date, 1 137 have been submitted to the finance department for payment and the remainder is currently being processed. Since Tuesday, R61-million has been paid into the accounts of the 440 plus NPOs.

“As a measure to expedite payment, we have requested the Gauteng Treasury to allow the department to have daily payment runs, ”said Mayathula-Khoza.

“The Benoni Child Welfare, which also alleged it was closing down yesterday morning, was kept informed when to expect payment and as indicated earlier, their payment was processed on May 22.”

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Mayathula-Khoza said the department is as concerned about the adverse effect the delay in payment of NPOs has on the vulnerable, the destitute and the frail.

“It is for this reason that we do all we can to ensure that this sector of our community is kept active in order to continue making the difference by providing services to the vulnerable,” she said.

According to the MEC, the department adjusts its budget for this purpose annually.

“In the last four years alone, by the end of this term we shall have spent R11-b on NPOs in fives years, ” said Mayathula-Khoza.

“This financial year, we have allocated R2.7-b to fund 2 369 NPOs, 56 per cent of our total budget of R4.9-b.”

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