Address by the Honourable Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Pravin Gordhan, at the annual Dr Sisupal Rambharos Memorial Lecture on “Mentoring Public and Private Partnerships That Empower the NPO Sector”, Durban
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for the honour and privilege of delivering the second Dr Sisupal Rambharos Memorial Lecture. Thank you for the opportunity to speak under the banner of a great yet humble South African patriot, spiritual leader and humanist. Dr Sisupal Rambharos’s unique ability to know what is right; to act on what is right; to make a difference through action – in social organisations, in political movements, and in religious organisations, has defined his life. His willingness to serve has left an indelible mark in the community. His spirituality, humanity, courage, and life of sacrifice, stands out as an example to all communities – so rare are the individuals who both understand the needs of people and act concretely in the interest of the masses.
He was also a visionary – he understood the need for this type of institution and persuaded and mobilised many others in the community to both create and build sustainability in community-based institutions. His actions inspired others to follow suit in working towards the betterment of the poor.
Even for the current generation of activists – there are lessons: short-term approaches alone have their limitations – they must be converted into the discharging of a long-term vision.
I congratulate you on 94 years of community service and selfless leadership. The Aryan Benevolent Home, in the 94 years of its existence, has served as a haven for the homeless, the elderly, the disabled and chronically ill. For many it was the last refuge in an increasingly uncaring world.
The current trends in the world – political, social, economic – stand in direct contrast to the values and ethos that inspired Dr Rambharos and his generation and people like him, in many parts of the world. Today we live with generation “I”, where one’s worth is determined by how many Twitter followers one has, or how many likes one can garner for Facebook posts. Dr Rambharos worked tirelessly in a time where recognition was scant – but then Dr Rambharos did not work for recognition – he worked in service of his fellow human beings.
What are some of the trends today that we should take note of?
The last seven years of the 21st century has demonstrated the gross contradictions and unsustainability of current economic, political and social trends and tensions. The inequality, the capture of a large part of the national income by the top 1%-5% of the population; the political influence of the financial sector and the big corporations; high levels of youth and general unemployment; the fiscal stress that governments face and the austerity or tough measures people face; and finally, the geopolitical tensions leading to mass migration and instability in parts of the globe.
Last month, world leaders gathered at the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to “end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.”
To simply dismiss the plight of the poor as inconsequential to the lives of the better off is no longer sustainable or acceptable. We cannot simply will away the poor and destabilised, as the recent migrant crisis in Europe has shown us. Similarly, South Africa is engaged with the influx of people from other parts of the continent, many whom are simply economic migrants.
Over the last week South Africans had the opportunity to hear the views and insights of Professor Thomas Picketty, at the 13th Nelson Mandela Memorial Lecture. Picketty’s book, Capital in the 21st Century, has stirred the corridors of power and reignited the fundamental quest for justice, fairness, equity and a better life for all. Professor Picketty calls for a greater tax on wealth as his assessment shows that our current initiatives will not sufficiently reduce inequality, and may in fact perpetuate it. South Africa has, since democracy was introduced in 1994, been implementing various redistributive policies and put in place a fairly advanced social safety net, although not as robustly as Picketty advocates. The expansion of social grants and an increase in social spending on poor households, such as through the Free Basic Services programme, has gone some way in reducing poverty, though not necessarily inequality and the unequal distribution of wealth.
The week before, Pope Francis, in the course of his visit to Cuba and the US, stirred the human spirit and invoked the import of social justice, peace between peoples and nations, and the devastation that greed can and does cause. The first Pope to address the US Congress, Pope Francis captured the spirit he spoke of in the phrase, “Legislative activity is always based on care for the people.” In many ways, it is the spirit that Dr Rambharos also championed.
Corporates have for long sought to avoid paying tax in any way possible. US companies have $1,2 trillion stashed outside the country; tax havens hide 8% of the wealth of the world; the G20 initiative – Base erosion and profit shifting is but a small effort to counter the rape of the fiscal capability.
Companies that have captured the public’s imagination like Facebook and Uber do not pay tax in many of the countries they operate and derive their profits from.
These tax avoidance schemes are but one of the measures taken by many large corporates to avoid their responsibilities, while they benefit from the countries in which they operate.
In the 1930s, economist John Maynard Keynes envisaged that capitalism would lead to prosperity and ‘the good life’ for all. Of course this has not been the case and the world has strayed far from this ideal. Professor Robert Sidelsky in his book with Edward Sidelsky, “How much is enough? Money and the good life” draws a link between greed and capitalism.
Sidelsky introduced two keen observations:
The first is the effects of insatiability and greed in modern society – The institutional system of “capitalism inflames insatiability, releases insatiability…without insatiability there couldn’t be growth, it would stop at some point. Therefore, it does anything it can to inflame insatiability, and advertising is one of the chief mechanisms for that.”
Sidelsky’s second observation is that “without countervailing power of one kind or another, capitalism does produce huge inequality of wealth and income which keeps lots of people poor, even though society as a whole gets richer.”
So you can see why government, business, non-governmental/non-profit organisations (NGOs/NPOs) and society more generally – people like yourselves who support the ABH, the Fair and other activities – must play this countervailing role.
There are a number of measures that undermine the government fiscus, including rent-seeking, corruption, capture of institutions by anti- developmental and self-centred forces.
To be fair, the Francises, the Mandelas, and the Rambharoses, exist in all our communities – everyday there are groups of people like yourselves, who go
about helping their fellow human beings. Social distress also unleashes a sense of community. Our task is to determine how to harness this sense of community to uplift people and communities, rather than leave them in a state of inequality. There is a need to refocus on the cause of social justice, true democracy and active participation, as embodied by Dr Rambharos.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Aryan Benevolent Home has a long and distinguished record in Durban’s community, and not just for the activities that are the core business of the home. It has been the catalyst for many outcomes of substantial significance, and all of you who are part of the home have a proud legacy….one that you should uphold and give further expression to.
I have been asked to provide some advice as to how NPOs should engage with this very difficult environment and how they should strive to survive.
My starting point in this regard is to refer you straight back to the qualities that the Aryan Benevolent Home and its leaders such as Dr Rambharos, have displayed in abundance over the years. Embrace adversity, be creative, be courageous, don’t rely on others but always seek partners in the walk towards one’s goals, and never give up when things seem to be going wrong. A changing world requires government, businesses and NGOs to reinvent themselves to become agile and innovative. But let us not be glib.
Institutions of civil society were incredibly important as advocates of the poor in the struggle against apartheid. And today they are incredibly important to enhance democracy and assist in service delivery.
As far as funding is concerned, a survey conducted by the GreaterGood South Africa in October 2014 found that 467 NPOs reported cuts from all of their funding sources. Some 38% of NPOs have had to reduce services to cope. Moreover NPOs no longer enjoy “blanket legitimacy” — they have to prove to communities and their partners that they are adding value.
However, what has become apparent is that there are several NPOs, which are managing to thrive, notwithstanding a very difficult environment. And many of these according to the Gordon Institute for Business School’s “Network for Social Entrepreneurs”, are NPOs that have embraced self- sustainability, not reliance on one or two large donors. This has required an emphasis on social entrepreneurship.
Government has spent between R20 and R25 billion over the past five years through various programmes, including the Early Childhood Development, housing, welfare, Community Work Programme, Extended Public Works Programme, environmental preservation and enhancement initiatives and HIV/AIDS assistance.
Self-generation of funds is not new to the non-profit sector. A Department of Social Welfare Report in 2005 notes that that the total income of the approximately 100 000 NPOs in the non-profit sector in South Africa was of the order of R14 billion, of which 42% was provided by government, 25% by donors, and 29% via self-generation (mainly sales, service levies, rents, membership fees etc.). What is needed in future is for this proportion of income to be expanded.
It should be noted further that the Department of Social Development reports (in 2009) that only 14,25% of NPOs in SA submit audited financial reports. They report further that only 50% NPOs had formal budgets and that 80% of those that do have budgets, do not have sufficient committed financial resources to cover the budgets. The report stresses further that much needs to be done to improve the professionalism of NPOs especially if they are to be partners of government. As times get harder so the pressure to “up our game” increases in all sectors of society. And the non-profit sector is no exception.
Fortunately, none of these apply to ABH, which is a highly efficient, well-governed and well-managed organization. In doing so you emulate the values that have driven generations before Dr Rambharos and since.
Our challenge in the next ten to 20 years is to sustain, indeed grow and widen, the inculcation of values of caring, sharing and collective development, as a testimony to our basic humanity. This requires that the ‘haves’ of our society to have a profound attachment to, and belief in, developing a non- racial, non-sexist democratic South Africa, which cares for all its people and relegates poverty, inequality and unemployment to the dustbins of history.
Let me end with the words of Khalil Gibran, which epitomizes the vision we should seek:
“I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.”
I thank you.
