THE eThekwini Municipality Council has approved a Grant in Aid Distribution Programme that aims to provide financial relief to local non-profit organisations (NPOs).
The financial relief will be received by the local NPOs that were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The approval was made following a voting process that took place during a full online municipal council meeting today.
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Political parties that voted against the programme included the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Action SA, the United Independent Movement (UIM) and the Freedom Front Plus (FFP), while others supported the ANC. Two hundred council members participated in the voting process. There were 109 supporters of the programme and there were 83 abstained votes.
The IFP councillor, Edward Mngadi, applauded the programme.
“We support the programme as IFP. We are calling for an improvement in the manner this programme will be provided to the communities,” he said.
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The EFF councillor, Sipho Memela said the party was against the programme as he believes it will ‘benefit ANC members’.
The Municipal Speaker, Thabani Nyawose, said the ANC supported the programme.
“It is going to help organisations that are giving back to communities, without expect anything in return. I know that there are many NPOs affected by the pandemic, but we need to start with the poorest ones,” he said.
He advised NPOs that do not receive financial relief this year to apply next year.
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