There is a glimmer of hope for the embattled Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) after the municipality finally signed off on a tender deviation to ensure that it will be paid.
The SPCA is now pinning its hopes on the R161,000 payment from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, which is due to be made on Friday, to ensure that staff are paid over the Christmas period.
The municipality has not paid the SPCA, which runs the only municipal pound on behalf of the city, since July.
The non-payment saw the SPCA on the brink of closing its doors in October.
The municipal pound has, however, been closed since September.
Acting city manager Peter Neilson confirmed that a tender deviation had been signed.
SPCA district chair Deirdre Swift said on Thursday that the municipal pound would be opened once the payment had been made.
“We have been told that the money will be in our bank account [on Friday],” she said.
“The situation is still dire but the payment will ensure that staff can get paid for December and January.”
They would be able to pay some of their bills, but not all their expenses.
“It will mean that we will be out of the woods for the holiday period.”
However, Swift said that she was worried that the city had said it would not reimburse the SPCA R131,000 for taking in strays since September.
She said she would fight that in 2019.
“If they pay me [on Friday] we will be fine until mid-January. We have more than enough food on site, the public has been really good to us,” Swift said.
“If the money gets paid, staff can stay on and no animals will be put down.
“If the municipality doesn’t pay, I can only pay staff for next week but not the week after, and if I don’t have staff on site we’re going to have to make serious decisions.
“I am waiting for [Friday]. If that money comes in, I won’t even have to consider anything else,” she said.
Swift said she was concerned about fake news stating that the SPCA had been closed since September.
“There is a lot of confusion and false news because people don’t understand that the SPCA has remained open and the municipal pound has been closed [since] September.”
She said the SPCA’s staff had been overwhelmed by the public’s support.
“If the public and local business hadn’t stepped in . . . they have kept our doors open since July.
“If it hadn’t been for the goodness of the public, we would have closed our days a while ago.
“We are very grateful to each and every business and to everybody who has supported us.
“Without them we wouldn’t be able to do what we do and the animals in the community would suffer.”
Swift said the pound would be opened only after the city signed off on the deviation.
Neilson said he was happy that the impasse had been resolved.
“The deviation was approved early this morning but in terms of our policy there is a minute that I have to sign to authorise the payment.
“I am very excited to say that it has been signed and finalised,” he said.
“This was a little bit of a challenge because of the process. This is a worthy cause because this has to do with animals which can’t speak up for themselves,” Neilson said.