The South African National NGO Coalition (Sangoco) has been rocked by the resignation of four senior staff members in the second week of March in reaction to a decision by the national council to reinstate executive director Abie Ditlhake.
Finance manager Juanita Pardesi, membership coordinator Teboho Mpondo, staff representative Dipuo Mahlatsi and programmes coordinator Nhlanhla Ndlovu resigned, saying they could not work with Ditlhake.
”Sangoco is being destroyed by individual egos and power struggles and I am afraid that these resignations will break the back of the coalition,” an NGO representative told the Mail & Guardian.
The human resources manager at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Shamila Singh, says the centre has not paid membership fees to Sangoco for up to two years.
”Before we were enjoying the benefits of the organisation, but Sangoco no longer markets these to us. We have not heard from the organisation in over two years.”
Linda Aardnesgaard, director of the Thandanani Children’s Foundation in KwaZulu-Natal, asked: ”What does Sangoco do anymore? We have completely lost interest in its shenanigans.”
Sangoco was formed in 1994 to counter the critical situation NGOs found themselves in after 1990 when anti-apartheid funding started drying up. It is an umbrella body for about 4 000 NGOs. Its vision is of a strong civil society that serves the interests of and advocates for the poorest in our society.
The M&G recently reported that Ditlhake’s decision-making powers were suspended by the national executive committee (NEC) following allegations by staff members of mismanagement, internal strife and weak leadership.
A task team was selected from the NEC to investigate charges against Ditlhake and decided to meet the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) on March 3. The CCMA is also handling a formal charge brought against the executive director by Sangoco staff at the beginning of the year.
However, Sangoco president Lucas Mufamadi denied that Ditlhake was ever suspended. The denial followed a weekend decision by the national council, which is chaired by Mufamadi, to allow Ditlhake to continue as executive director.
”An impression was … given that the executive director [was] suspended, which came as a surprise to me and the entire leadership since it is devoid of any truth,” he said in a press statement in the second week of March.
But a member of the NEC said Ditlhake was ”definitely suspended” and that Mufamadi had confirmed this. ”The blatant denial of his suspension is simply deepening the problems in a coalition which is on the brink of sinking,” said the NEC member.
In a report delivered by Ditlhake to the weekend national council meeting he wrote: ”No organisation can function when the governance structures support staff in defiance of management. The directorate is united in its opposition to the NEC to undermine the organisational integrity and close the coalition … in these circumstances, we submit that the NEC has failed the organisation.”
According to senior Sangoco staff, the ”directorate” included Ditlhake and programmes manager Glen Farred.
”None of the senior management was informed or included in the compiling of this report,” said Ndlovu. ”Abie completely disputed the NEC decision and in the process has advocated chaos.”
Farred’s appointment is also under investigation after allegations by staff that Ditlhake employed him last year through a ”unilateral” restructuring process.
The NEC and the national council have frozen this process, which dissolved the position of deputy director and replaced it with two new positions, an operations manager and a programmes manager, while the investigation pends.
This investigation is an extension of the decision taken by the NEC two weeks ago to resolve the allegations raised in a 10-point staff memorandum circulated to the NEC. The national council, the NEC task team and Sangoco staff will enter negotiations with a CCMA investigator next week to agree on the terms of reference of the investigation.
Despite this decision, Sangoco staff are disillusioned by the apparent contradictions in the national council resolution.
”Ditlhake’s reinstatement is the sole reason we have resigned,” said Ndlovu. ”There is no way we will go back there but we are committed to seeing the investigation process through and justice done.”
But Mufamadi maintains the future of Sangoco is promising. ”Sangoco exists because of the trust that members have in the organisation. Of course, if they decide not to support it then we are talking a different language and the organisation could fold. However they have indicated to me that they are committed to the goals and objectives of the coalition.”
Some members tell a different story. ”My understanding of the situation was that [Ditlhake] was suspended but is resuming his position anyway. When Sangoco was first established I saw it as a broad base that represented the mainstream NGOs but also the baby community-based organisations. Unfortunately, due to poor leadership, the organisation has been destroyed. We are now gatvol and are no longer interested in the organisation,” said an NGO member who wished to remain anonymous.