organisation
Rural community-oriented NGO EcoLink will not be defeated by the alleged misappropriation of R200 000 of its funds, write Clive Lloyd and Fiona Macleod
EcoLink, one of the country’s oldest and largest environmental NGOs working with rural communities, says it will lay charges against its former administrator following the disappearance of more than R200 000 of its funds.
Sue Hart, EcoLink’s founder and executive director, recently returned to work fighting fit after two years of serious illness – only to find that during her absence hundreds of thousands of rands had gone missing.
She immediately called for a forensic audit, which provided evidence of misappropriation of funds by the former administrator.
A Nelspruit-based lawyer has volunteered to handle the case for free because he wants to say “thank you” to EcoLink for what it has done for rural communities in Mpumalanga, where the NGO is based.
The lawyer, who does not want to be named, said this week: “The forensic audit is still being conducted, but legal proceedings will be instituted in the very near future.”
Donors have been informed of the misappropriation and, says Hart, have unreservedly pledged their ongoing support.
“It is really heart-warming to know that this theft isn’t going to tarnish the reputation we’ve gained over the past 15 years for strict economy and honesty,” she says.
Hart built a strong reputation for herself as a veterinarian and environmental educator in East Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe in the early 1970s.
In 1978 she was asked to launch a completely new type of environmental awareness programme for trainee teachers at Ngwenya College in the former KaNgwane homeland.
David Mabunda, the current director of the Kruger National Park, was one of her students, and he still refers to Hart as one of his most important mentors.
She launched EcoLink in 1985, to “bring back the love of the Earth to our people” by helping rural communities improve their standard of living while conserving their natural environment.
The NGO has since trained more than 40 rural communities to grow food gardens without using harmful fertilisers or pesticides.
Its highly successful trench-gardening system has been adopted by more than 5 000 families in Mpumalanga and neighbouring Swaziland.
At the busy EcoLink centre near White River, where business starts each day with a prayer meeting, courses on offer include water management, sewing skills, artisan skills, basic business and money management and a self-help project for the disabled.
Many of the workshops conducted at the centre take place under EcoLink’s sacred tree, an ancient Natal mahogany which would have germinated long before white settlement and environmental destruction took place.
An example of EcoLink’s work is the construction of 5 000 litre ferro-cement watertanks that are provided to store water for communities, vegetable gardens and rural schools
Minister of Education Kader Asmal recently visited the centre with a view to incorporating some of its community empowerment projects and environmental training programmes in national policy recommendations.
Says Hart, who suffered a stroke two years ago: “You can tell the world we will not be defeated, that we’re coming back into the ring with renewed energy.
“We’re not only going to survive, but are determined to turn this terrible thing around and move EcoLink into a new phase of its development.”