23 May 2024, Johannesburg – On 22 May 2024, Judge Opperman of the Gauteng High Court granted an order directing the Gauteng Department of Social Development (GDSD) to finalise the adjudication of applications submitted by Gauteng social work non-profit organisations (NPOs) to the GDSD in November 2023. GDSD must do so by no later than 24 May 2024 and must make payments to those NPOs who have already signed their service level agreements (SLAs) by 31 May 2024. Judge Opperman went further and imposed judicial supervision over the GDSD to monitor the implementation of his order.
SECTION27 welcomes this decision. It is a huge win for NPOs and the beneficiaries they provide essential services to. We congratulate the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee and their legal representatives, Webber Wentzel, on this important decision. For the past two months, SECTION27 has been engaging with the GDSD on behalf of several NPOs that offer social welfare services to some of the most vulnerable people in the province. In April 2024, the GDSD informed us that most of our clients’ funding applications were approved, and our clients were provided with SLAs. However, to this day, none of our clients has received payments in line with the SLAs that they signed and returned to the GDSD in April 2024. Over the past two months, various dates were provided by GDSD as to when our clients can expect payment and, on each occasion, GDSD has failed to meet its undertakings. While waiting for their payment, some were forced to sell their assets such as immovable properties and vehicles just to keep their doors open for these two months. Some also had to reduce the services they provide to the vulnerable population they serve.
The High Court decision came at a time when these NPOs are on the brink of shutting down. They are now vindicated. They can now negotiate with their staff members who have been refusing to work due to non-payment of April salaries and or fear that May salaries might not be paid. Soon, if the GDSD makes payment, they will be able to pay their staff for April and May, pay their municipal bills, and buy food for the people they continue to serve.
We hope that the GDSD sees this as a wake up call. This crisis, as we have mentioned before, is nothing but a self-constructed disaster by GDSD through its dysfunction. MEC Hlophe and the Gauteng Government need to address this dysfunction to fix the current crisis and ensure this never happens again.
There are strong parallels between what might occur if NPOs are not paid imminently by the GDSD and what occurred in the Life Esidimeni tragedy. Lives are on the line because of the GDSD’s administrative chaos and NPOs and the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee have been warning the GDSD of this for some time. However, instead of addressing the potential looming human rights disaster, the GDSD accused NPOs of politicking and requested they “be patient.” Hopefully, the GDSD learns from past disasters such as the Life Esidimeni tragedy that the lives of beneficiaries must be put first. This is their constitutional mandate.
SECTION27 encourages the GDSD to comply with the court order and finalise all the successful applications as ordered by the court and without any delays.
For media queries contact:
Pearl Nicodemus | nicodemus@section27.org.za | 082 298 2636
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