Sanco is struggling to survive amid tensions between its socialist stalwarts and newborn capitalists,reports Mungo Soggot
ONE of the bulwarks of the anti-apartheid struggle, the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco), has virtually ground to a halt, crippled by debts of R1,5- million.
A report read by former Sanco secretary general Penrose Ntlonti at the organisation’s conference earlier this month reveals Sanco’s national office in Johannesburg is on the brink of collapse. Sanco insiders say the situation in many of its provincial offices is even worse.
“The national office is frequently visited by the sheriff of the court to attach property for debts, not honoured by some provinces and regions …” the report says.
Despite the chaos at head office, many of the thousands of civic organisations across the country continue to function – but have barely any contact with the central organisation.
Sanco’s problems follow the organisation’s decision to abandon its socialist roots and venture into business. Two years ago Sanco, which spearheaded the opposition to the National Party’s puppet local governments, set up an investment arm, Sanco Investment Holdings (SIH).
Headed by former Sanco president Moses Mayekiso, SIH embarked on a number of long- term investments which have yet to bear fruit.
The relationship between the two has become blurred, partly because SIH has taken over Sanco’s membership drive. Sanco’s business arm teamed up with a United States insurance company, American International Group (AIG), to charge members a R30-a-year fee in exchange for insurance, funeral benefits and discounts at various retailers.
The scheme, which has been hit by fraud and mismanagement, was masterminded by Michael Levinsohn, formerly a director at Venter Trailers, who left SIH under a cloud late last year.
The membership drive was supposed to finance Sanco, which was so confident of its success that it stopped seeking donor funding. Its donations and grants dropped to R394 000 in the year to March 1997 from R1,6-million the previous financial year.
The secretary’s report reveals that so far the membership drive has failed. “The membership drive was initiated as far back as January 1995. However, due to the unscrupulousness of the person entrusted with the membership drive, the person’s services were terminated … Since December 1996, we are pleased to announce that we have paid-up membership of approximately 5 000 members.
“The secretariat must report that AIG was on the verge of pulling out because of the slow membership drive, and because we failed to honour our promise of two million members … However, we were able to convince them to continue their partnership, and they, therefore, continue to sponsor this conference.”
The report says AIG was put off by a range of problems, including “dishonest agents” and “missing cash”.
The report warns that “if the membership programme is based at AIG, then Sanco does not own its own membership drive”.
Mayekiso insists that the membership drive will work and will rescue Sanco. He says SIH has never given cash to Sanco, but has lent it money, which appears to have kept the head office from collapsing. He says the R1,5-million debt was “not that much”, considering how much money could be raised from its 1,2-million members.
Sanco president Mlungisi Hlongwane was unavailable for comment.
The report is frank about the problematic relationship between Sanco and its business arm: “There has been some tension between the national office and SIH, since the national office runs consistently on the brink of bankruptcy, whereas SIH is somewhat financially secure to ensure that it can afford the day-to-day running of its office. A mechanism must be sought to ensure that when the profits of SIH can be accessed, Sanco as we know it now, as a national organisation, still exists.”
The tension between Sanco and SIH has led to rifts between several Sanco stalwarts. Mzwanele Mayekiso, Moses’s brother, has been openly critical of the organisation’s “opportunistic” commercialisation. The report slates him for “furthering his own interests” while setting up a research and development institute.
Apart from its financial troubles, the report admits Sanco is suffering from a “lack of focus”. A survey of its departments is peppered with criticism. Its education department is described as having “never been functional, nor properly co- ordinated”. It says its health department “has not been able to make the necessary inroads …”