The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) and the NSPCA are expected to meet early next month following a public outcry over the impact the withdrawal of NLC funding would have on the organisation.
The national lottery said it had been forced to cut its funding as it could not address every organisation’s needs.
Cape of Good Hope SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abraham said their mobile clinic operation would be heavily affected.
It costs just over R31 million to run the organisation, Abraham said.
NLC funding accounted for 3% (about R7 460 000) of the organisation’s needs in 2014, and it covered the costs to run the mobile clinic service.
“The SPCA is not strictly for the benefit of animals. Our mobile clinics go out to the most vulnerable communities where people cannot afford transport or the costs to get their animals to a vet.
"Now all animal welfare organisations have to look elsewhere for funding in the region of R1m. In the corporate sector their CSI funds are aligned to the National Development Goals where we don’t feature, so we are left to look at the man on the street,” said Abraham.
The organisation has four mobile clinics which service the southern and northern suburbs, and during 2017 16 685 animals received dipping, deworming and vaccination from these clinics.
The NLC said it distributed R1.5 billion each year and the charities sector accounted for about R700m of these allocations.
NLC spokesperson Odaho Sengani said: “Each year, more than 14 000 applications are received in this sector, requesting more than R10bn in funding.
"The issue of the NSPCA is not unique and many other organisations are affected. This however does not mean that they cannot apply for funding in the future or they will not be covered in the future priority areas when they are reviewed.”
This year the NLC’s funding would be focused on prevention and intervention programmes that address crime reduction and substance abuse, as well as prevention, early intervention and protection for the
vulnerable.
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA started its own lottery in an effort to generate funds for their mobile clinics, called Tails Up Club.
The public pays R50 a month and each donor is entered into a monthly lucky draw to win R10000.
For more information, contact Greta Marz on 021 700 4218.
Mobile operator Melvin George said: “We go into the poorest of the poor that cannot afford vets. If we are not there, dogs are going to suffer.
"People wait in anticipation for us to come around to their community. We service plus minus 30 people per day, if not more.”