Gauteng Social Development condemns vandalism of property during protests

Gauteng Department of Social Development condemns vandalism of property during protests

The Gauteng Department of Social Development condemns the burning of the entrance of its leased building in Johannesburg by Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) who are demanding to be given funding even though they do not have service level 
agreements (SLAs) in place with the Department due to them being non-compliant. 

This morning a group of protesters from NPOs blockaded the entrance to the Department’s Johannesburg regional offices burning tyres and breaking the glass door of the building housing our Johannesburg employees and those of other companies. 

We note with regret that these actions have disrupted service delivery and placed the lives of our employees at risk, resulting in a few having to be observed by medical practitioners for smoke inhalation.

These protests are born out of NPOs refusing to accept that the Department cannot fund non-compliant NPOs; particularly as their said work entails that of delivering food to the vulnerable and in particular HIV infected children. The Department cannot and 
will not be forced into creating another Life Esidimeni by funding non-compliant NPOs, thereby placing the vulnerable at risk. 

It would be irresponsible for this pro poor government to allow the vulnerable to be serviced by non-compliant NPOs, additionally it goes against our good governance prescripts. As a democratic government we acknowledge that people have a right to 
protest however, acts of vandalism cannot be tolerated as that amounts to violence and criminality. The Department will be opening a case of arson and has before it images of the transgressors that will be accordingly submitted to the authorities. 

It has equally come to the knowledge of the Department that these protests are fuelled by a conflict between some of our officials and the NPOs. The said officials have been engaging the non-compliant NPOs and promised them funding if they change their 
status. We hereby wish to reiterate that funding application processes are in place to protect the Department against corruption and maladministration. The engagements some of these NPOs have been having with our officials amount to corruption, as the 
Department cannot entertain further applications or changes in submission of NPOs post the set deadline for NPO funding. 

The province has many registered NPOs and can only fund a few due to budget constraints. These untoward engagements fly against good governance and our attempt to create fairness in the constrained NPO funding environment. Accordingly,the MEC and Head of Department (HOD) will ensure that consequence management is applied to the implicated officials as their actions have brought disrepute to the Department. 

For media enquiries contact :
Nkosana Mtolo, Spokesperson for the MEC of Gauteng Department Social Development, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment 
076 764 8442
Email: Nkosana.Mtolo@gauteng.gov.za