lottery cash
Barry Streek
More than 8E000 NGOs have been registered in terms of the Non-profit Organisations Act, Minister of Welfare and Population Development Zola Skweyiya has disclosed.
This is far short of his own department’s estimate of between 45E000 and 80E000 non- profit organisations (NPOs) in South Africa, but it is a significant achievement considering the formalities these bodies have to comply with in order to be registered.
Skweyiya, who was replying to a question tabled by Adriaan van Jaarsveld (New National Party), said 8E234 NGOs had been registered by April 6 this year, and no applications for registration had been refused.
NPOs have to be registered in terms of the law in order to qualify for grants from the National Development Agency and from proceeds of the national lottery when these are made available.
They also have to be registered if they are entitled to apply for the tax incentives announced by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel in his budget speech.
Not all NPOs qualify for these concessions but they were extended from tertiary educational institutions and certain educational funds to pre-primary and primary schools, children’s homes, organisations caring for the aged and those focused on HIV/Aids care “as a first step”.
Manuel then said the range of organisations entitled to tax-deductible donations could be broadened only if the South African Revenue Service “develops capacity to prevent abuse”.
The welfare department’s NPO directorate has estimated that there are 500E000 people working in the NPO sector through which almost R10-billion a year is circulated, but that far more volunteers work in the sector than paid employees.
In its annual report for 1999-2000, the welfare department said the guidelines were being finalised and it would be the first time registered organisations had reported in terms of the NPO Act.
One of its priorities was to “continue to lobby and advocate incentives” to NPOs.
Skweyiya said 5 049 NGOs received funding from his department in the 1998/9 financial year to provide services to communities.
n In reply to another question, tabled by Inka Mars (Inkatha Freedom Party), he said the state had a statutory and constitutional responsibility towards all children, including street children but it executed this responsibility in partnership with NGOs, the private sector and the community.
There were 52 registered shelters for street children, 11 unregistered shelters, one drop-in centre, four projects and nine children’s homes rendering services to street children nationally.
“Several facilities are in the process of being registered,” Skweyiya said.