Kids at risk after subsidies not paid to NGOs
With non-government organisations running out of money for petrol and salaries, the Eastern Cape’s child protection system is under severe threat as the department of social development failed again to pay subsidies, child welfare organisations have warned.
A groundbreaking programme involving more than 1,000 at-risk children in Schauderville and Gelvandale is now also under threat as the department failed to pay subsidies for the sixth month in a row.
Anna-Louise Olivier, who heads up Uviwe Child and Youth Services which is running this programme, said that even though it had not received subsidies for six months, it was threatened constantly that its funding would be withdrawn if it did not file its reports on time.
Child Welfare provincial deputy chair Dalene Ritter said the majority of organisations removing children from dangerous and abusive circumstances, getting them into foster care and then providing family rehabilitation and children’s court services, had last been paid in December.
This had put the foster care system under severe threat as all the cases being handled by social workers employed by NGOs and nonprofit organisations in the province would revert to the department if these organisations closed down.
“NGO social workers are empowered to remove children from homes and place them in safety with foster parents or homes,” Ritter said.
“They also look into the rehabilitation of the family.
“They have to provide constant reports to the courts on these children.
“If you miss a deadline, it would place the child at severe risk.”
Irma Vermaak, from Child Welfare in Humansdorp, said they had two social workers and one assistant social worker serving an enormous rural area and none of them had been paid since December.
“We are not able to continue our work. Who will do the job?” she said.
Vermaak said the social workers had to deal with cases in Humansdorp, drive about 80km to Clarkson, and also visit farms.
“We can’t drive without money and there are a lot of problems on the farms.”
The subsidy from the department was used solely to pay the social workers.
“I think there are 140 children in foster care handled by the two of them,” she said.
“That doesn’t include the work they do [related to] alcohol and drug abuse, gangsterism and domestic violence.”
Dave Malherbe, the treasurer for Child Welfare in Kentonon-Sea and Bushman’s River, said it had last received a subsidy in October and had to scramble to find money to pay salaries.
“In 2018, we received only 50% of the subsidies we were promised,” he said.
“We are owed six months of subsidies and are in a desperate situation.”
Malherbe’s letters to department head Ntombi Baart have gone unanswered.
“We look after 150 children every day.
“We run two houses and also after-school services.
“We also run a soup kitchen,” he said.
Its social workers also did a lot of child protection work.
Social development portfolio committee chair Christian Martin said he had received a message from Baart after he asked on Tuesday about the nonpayment.
The message reads: “Morning Chairperson. The contents of the message are noted.
“However it is not true that NPOs esp. ECD [early childhood development centres like creches] r not paid since December as concerted efforts were made to bring payments up to date.
“Despite Head Office being not fully functional for 21 working days to date, officials were sent out to Districts to fast track payments as part of our Contingency Operational Plan. I have confirmation from ECD Forum confirming receipt of payments. “Have requested our NPO Officials to give details of Seringa [a home for the aged that also hasn’t received any subsidies].”
Martin said he had now asked for a full analysis detailing which nonprofit and nongovernment organisations had received payment and which of them had not.
Ritter said she could confirm that the majority of child welfare organisations in the province had not been paid for the past three months.
“I have also received that message from Baart.
“My question is, why would we complain if we have been paid?”
Olivier said Uviwe Child and Youth Services’ work was being threatened by the nonpayment of subsidies.
“We have 70 children in an after-school programme and also present classes on independent living, positive parenting, sports and life skills,” she said.
“More than 1,000 children identified as being at risk are also involved in our programmes in Schauderville and Gelvandale.
“We were last paid our subsidies in October.
“We only received money for the first half of 2018.
“Our service-level agreement with the department states that they will pay us R1.2m [a year] but we have only received half of that.”
Olivier said they had some money left in a 32-day call account which they had been forced to use to pay salaries in January.
“They [department officials] expect and demand reports with statistics every single month even though we do not have any money to keep going.
“If we don’t file reports, they threaten to withdraw our subsidies.
“Every day we pray over this, but the situation is not improving.
“We can’t carry on like this. It is simply not sustainable.”
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