Gauteng Department of Social Development admits it did not comply with court orders
Administrative failures continue to plague the department
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has admitted that it failed to comply with court orders. Illustration: Lisa Nelson
- The Gauteng Department of Social Development has admitted in court that it did not fully comply with past court orders.
- Premier Panyaza Lesufi and MEC Faith Mazibuko apologised and said they would request regular updates from the department.
- Dozens of organisations have still not been fully paid for services rendered on behalf of the department.
A months-long court battle between the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee and the Gauteng Department of Social Development might be nearing an end. The department has committed to work with the committee to resolve payment issues and admitted to non-compliance with previous court orders.
Throughout last year, the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, a voluntary association of non-profit organisations, obtained three orders from the High Court in Johannesburg. But the orders were not fully complied with, leading the Committee to seek further relief from the court.
Several organisations have still not been paid despite having signed contracts. Some organisations are still awaiting the outcomes of their funding applications for the financial year (which started in April 2024). Other organisations had signed service-level agreements with the department or received funding approvals for the full year but have only been paid for the fourth quarter, despite providing services on behalf of the department since the start of last year.
In December, Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland directed all the parties to appear in court, and for Premier Panyaza Lesufi and MEC Faith Mazibuko to “show cause why they are not complicit in any contempt [of court] which may exist”.
A brief hearing was held at the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday, but the department, Mazibuko, and Lesufi had only filed their responding affidavits late on Sunday evening. The parties therefore agreed to postpone the matter until Friday. Before then, the department will meet with the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee to discuss outstanding issues and outline the way forward.
In their affidavits, Mazibuko and Lesufi apologised. “It is now clear to me that there have been shortcomings in the department’s compliance with various court orders. This is regrettable and I can only apologise,” said Lesufi.
But Lesufi said he cannot be held in contempt because he is not responsible for the department’s operational issues and was not a party to the court proceedings. Since being served the court papers, he has met Mazibuko and department officials and has undertaken to supervise the issue closely, he said.
Head of Department Bongane Ngomane apologised in his affidavit for not complying with aspects of previous court orders. The department was ordered in November by Judge Ingrid Opperman to provide a detailed report on the status of funding for all non-profit organisations. This was not done. He has now asked for more time to present a new report with the required information.
Ngomane had told the court in December that some non-profits that had signed year-long service level agreements would only be paid for the fourth quarter. But in his affidavit filed on Sunday, he said he has “been advised that the position … is legally untenable”.
Ngomane said all non-profits who can produce evidence “to confirm that they were in operation for the first three quarters and provided the relevant services to beneficiaries”, will be paid.
There were eleven organisations that had been told by the department they would receive funding but had not yet received service level agreements or payments by December. In December, Judge Opperman ordered the department to issue them with contracts and make payments by 10 December.
Ngomane said in his affidavit that these organisations were summarily provided with contracts but payment delays were caused by some organisations’ non-compliance with the requirements of the government’s supplier database. All but one of the organisations have now been paid, Ngomane said.
Several were only paid by 24 January.
But one of the organisations, Vhatu Vhothe, has only received a contract and payment for one of its five programmes, says Gauteng Care Crisis Committee chair Lisa Vetten. It has still not received a confirmation from the department on whether its application for the other programmes has been successful.
Another organisation, Ithemba Community Centre, had its business plan lost by the department, which was ordered in December to process the application anew. Ithemba Community Centre resubmitted its application but has not heard back from the department, says Vetten.
Mary Gillett de Klerk, coordinator of the Johannesburg Homelessness Network, attended the hearing on Monday. She told GroundUp that homeless people relying on the organisation are currently stranded due to a lack of funding.
De Klerk said the organisation is on the brink of collapse, operating with two staff members working on a voluntary basis without payment. The organisation had received about 270 new cases during the past two weeks. It is unable to feed its beneficiaries, give them toiletries, employ staff, do outreach work or establish overnight safe spaces.
“We want the department’s processes to be honest and transparent. All we want is to be funded in order to render our services, which are desperately needed by the homeless,” she said.
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