Cape Town – A lack of funding could see Child Welfare South Africa closing shop, leaving hundreds of thousands of children with nowhere to go.
Executive director Peter Cloete said since he took over the 93-year-old non-profit organisation in 2015, it had faced a R4 million shortfall every year.
Cloete said that of the nine provinces in which Child Welfare had offices, and 154 countrywide offices, KwaZulu-Natal was best placed and was “showing life”, although the long-term future was uncertain.
KZN had 42 offices, handling about 120 000 cases annually.
“This has been coming for a long time. We have been going back and forth asking for money on the one hand, and national government has been taking away money on the other,” Cloete said.
“We will not be able to continue to operate like this. Eventually, we will have to close down if we don’t improve our financial situation,” he said.
To keep afloat, the organisation must raise R6m in the next two months, while waiting for a decision of the National Lottery review committee into the R5m which was withdrawn in October. Cloete said the funds were withdrawn because of a financial disclaimer “of previous years”.
“We appealed against the Lottery decision in November, and last week we received correspondence that the committee was looking into the matter."
“In 2015/16, we received a clean audit, and this should count in our favour."
“It must be noted, though, that our problems cannot be blamed squarely on the withdrawal of funds by international donors. It is for the local community and corporates to take ownership of the organisation,” he said.
The organisation has 69 staff in the nine provinces, with the KZN office allocated five senior social workers – who visit all their offices – a secretary, co-ordinator, the provincial head and volunteers.
“KwaZulu-Natal is doing very well, thanks to the dedication of volunteers and the staff. At the moment, we are solely dependent on social development subsidies. In other provinces, social workers are paid a third of their salaries, but they soldier on,” he said.
The Times reported on Tuesday that the organisation lost funds from international donors because of a lack of financial transparency, reporting and accountability.
Kumar rejected this, saying: “People should bring evidence to back such allegations.”
Anne Slatter, iCare chief executive, said it would be sad if Child Welfare closed down.
“This organisation is needed in the communities because it forms part of the solution to child abuse and neglect."
“They have a vital role to play in dealing with troubled children,” Slatter said.
The Department of Social Development funds 56 Child Welfare offices in the province through a service level agreement.
Ncumisa Ndelu, the department spokesperson, said the funding was used towards salary payments for social workers.
“This organisation provides family preservation and reunification services, with statutory services including foster care, adoption, child abuse prevention and early intervention services.
“They also provide help with child and youth care centres."
“We are not aware of any child welfare organisation that is facing closure,” Ndelu said.