Community urged to attend LifeLine Ekurhuleni’s AGM after setbacks
LifeLine ready and confident that the upcoming meeting will get the troubled NPO back on track.
Members of the community are invited to attend LifeLine Ekurhuleni’s AGM on October 18 at 10:00.
This marks the organisation’s fourth attempt at hosting a meeting this year, following the selection of 13 members on April 26.
The March 19 meeting was abruptly adjourned after a representative of the Department of Social Development (DSD), who wished to remain anonymous, deemed it illegal.
The representative stated that any decisions made on the day would be nullified. LifeLine Ekurhuleni was placed under administration in 2023 and has not had a functional board since.
According to the department, NPO regulations, and the LifeLine constitution, the AGM convened and chaired by Ndanduleni Ndou, the organisation’s social worker and acting director, did not meet the necessary requirements.
The DSD representative recommended that a task team of members unaffiliated with the organisation be established urgently.
“The team will be tasked with receiving and vetting CVs of those who wish to serve on the board,” said the DSD representative. “They will convene another meeting, chaired by the DSD, during which board members will be elected. Following the election, they will undergo extensive training provided by our department.”
On April 22, the AGM was once again cut short when it emerged that 11 individuals who submitted their CVs were not present. Four prospective board members who were present raised concerns, claiming that their names had been omitted from the candidate list despite submitting the required documentation on time.
Ndou explained that the NPO had requested the Benoni City Times and its sister publications to publicise the AGM and call for board member submissions. The notice was published on the publication’s website on April 3.
“After the publication, we noted a technical error with our email address,” said Ndou. “We were not receiving CVs and requested that submissions be sent via WhatsApp. It now appears that not all eligible applicants were informed, which led to four candidates being excluded.”
Following a four-day postponement, the task team announced that they had successfully selected candidates from the pool of submitted CVs. Kenneth Phiri and Michaela Sunnasy expressed gratitude to those who continued to support the process despite repeated delays.
“We believe that we have selected the best candidates who possess the knowledge and grit needed to steer this organisation back on course,” said Sunnasy.
Members of the community are encouraged to submit questions to the incoming board ahead of the AGM to allow the board to prepare informed answers. Questions can be sent to lifelinebenoni@gmail.com
To RSVP for the meeting, call 010 065 1342 or 073 045 8225. The meeting will be held at the LifeLine offices, 3 Russel Street, Western Extension.
