Care Crisis Committee says services to over 30 000 is at stake

The Gauteng Care Crisis Committee (GCCC) said as of May 7, of their members that submitted 267 business plans for the 2024/25 financial year, only 70 received service level agreements (SLA).

This amounts to only 26% of all business plans submitted by GCCC members.

While the Department of Social Development (DSD) contacted some NPOs, informing them about the approval of their business plans, the promised SLAs have not yet materialised.

“The department provided the NPOs with limited information. They have not been told how much money they allocated to the approved business plan and, in some cases, cannot say which business plan they approved,” the organisation said in a press statement.

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“Only 18 organisations belonging to the GCCC had their business plans approved and received SLAs. Worryingly, the DSD has not contacted 15 organisations about their business plans.”

The committee said at least two organisations’ business plans had become lost and not one organisation received payment.

“To provide insight into this impact, we present information about the jobs at risk and the number of beneficiaries at risk of losing services. Our focus is on the disability sector, with 14 organisations, most of whom are members of the GCCC.

“The GCCC does not include all organisations in the province, meaning the figures we provided offer only a snapshot into the impact of the DSD’s delayed decision-making and consequent non-payment of subsidies.

“Our data shows 285 jobs are at risk and 30 332 beneficiaries potentially facing the loss of services.”

The GCCC came to light in 2023 during the Gauteng DSD attempt to impose severe budget cuts on NPO social care services.

Its members met with MEC Mbali Hlophe on April 24, last year, to detail the impact of the cuts on organisations’ services and have been engaging with the DSD ever since.

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