Panyaza Lesufi’s utterances last weekend were not just politically foolish, but profoundly dangerous. (Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Is this another example of a government that cares very little for those it is meant to the most? It is.
Panyaza Lesufi, the new Gauteng premier, in February spoke of the provincial government’s new mandate: to care for older people, the vulnerable and the poor.
Weeks later, in a “monumentally uncaring” move, the budget for NGOs in social welfare, which provides critical services to thousands of people in the province, was slashed by hundreds of millions of rands.
This bombshell was dropped, without consultation, on 5 April, four days into the new financial year by Mbali Hlophe, Gauteng’s MEC for social development, agriculture, rural development and environment, at a function with NGOs.
She revealed that, in line with the department’s institutional realignment policy, the 2023-24 budget of NGOs would be readjusted to better align with Lesufi’s priorities. The result would be the defunding or reduction of subsidies by 61% to hundreds of nonprofits who serve people living with chronic illnesses, disabilities, children and older people.
This slashing would mean that many thousands of people who rely on social services to simply take a bath, to find a shelter after leaving an abusive partner, to feed children who have no one else and to keep this country going would be no more.
This was not the priority for Lesufi and his team. He tried to explain his priorities would be to “fight substance abuse; reducing homelessness; a war on poverty through improving food security; welfare-to-work programmes through accelerated skills development and the promotion of environmental sustainability.”
How do you do that without the NGO sector that has been the backbone of this country?
The budgets were slashed to such an extent that many will be forced to close their doors, while others have to cut vital services, putting the lives of thousands of people at risk. Some NGOs are being forced to sign new service-level agreements that comply with their reduced funding. Many have refused.
And hundreds of social workers will lose their jobs.
Only in the face of swift and severe backlash did Lesufi tell Radio 702 that there had been a “misunderstanding” about the new funding model, and vowing that he would not allow the budget cuts to proceed, as the brilliant work done by NGOs “must be celebrated, not sabotaged”.
But the decision to reprioritise funding came from Lesufi himself. Now, it has dawned on him that hundreds of people could die.
Removing funding from nonprofits appears to be because the provincial government believes it can do the job they do. This would leave the most vulnerable at the mercy of the government, which does not have the capacity to provide life-saving services. The NGO sector has massive experience and skills – attributes the government simply cannot match.