Civil-society preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in August are back in full swing following the release this week of a R3-million injection by the National Development Agency (NDA).
The ”freezing” of funds to the Civil Society Secretariat (CSS) two months ago came in the light of allegations of mismanagement of funds by the secretariat.
The allegations prompted the appointment of forensic auditors to check the CSS’s books — a move that resulted in the suspension of the chief executive, Jacqui Brown. Brown has been replaced by Zakes Hlatswayo from the national land committee.
In a statement released this week the CSS says it is ”pleased to announce that the NDA has released money to fund operations, recurring expenditure and process activities for the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development. As of last week, solid agreements between the CSS and the NDA had been concluded, with the view to ensuring that the preparations for the summit continue unhindered and at a higher pace than has hitherto been the case. All the stumbling blocks to funding have now been removed.”
The CSS says its leadership has been working frantically to secure funding and thus ensure the successful hosting of the summit in August. ”As a testimony, we are currently expecting further, even more substantial funding from the NDA itself and about a dozen other donor agencies — both local and international. Negotiations are already at an advanced stage and with some donors, we have arrived at ‘in-principle agreements’ already.”
The CSS spokesperson was upbeat about preparations and the challenges faced in the build-up to the August event. The CSS was earlier in the year plagued by in-fighting and bickering among its constituent parts, with some sectors crying ”governmental interference” in the process.
Some of the CSS activities lined up for the coming weeks include a round-table donor conference being held this week in Pretoria by the United Nations Development Programme with a view to securing further funding for the process. The date for the conference will be announced soon.
The CSS says:”A solid framework for cooperation between ourselves and the Johannesburg Summit Company has been agreed. Meetings are taking place daily to further clarify the working parameters and identify further areas of cooperation. The strategic objective of this relationship is to avoid unnecessary duplications in the preparation of the summit. We stress, however, that the political leadership of the civil society movement in South Africa will take great care in ensuring that whatever areas of cooperation there are with the government process, we will retain our autonomy as civil society.”
The CSS website will be ready on April 8 and will immediately allow for online registration. It will also serve as a vehicle for application by parties interested in staging side events and taking part in the exhibition during the summit and will provide updated information on developments at the summit.