Tshwane SPCA on the brink of collapse
The National Council of SPCAs has taken over the Tshwane SPCA following findings that the society was unconstitutional and that financial statements were withheld for two years.
Tshwane SPCA, including its Centurion and Waltloo branches, are at risk of collapsing financially.
The collapse has prompted the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) to take over the management of the Tshwane-based SPCA.
NSPCA spokesperson Jacques Peacock explained that the move follows the findings that the society-audited financial statements had been withheld for two years.
Tshwane SPCA services an area of 6 400 square kilometres, from Brits to Bela Bela, and Bronkhorstspruit to just before Midrand, and was historically one of the oldest and largest SPCAs in South Africa.
The SPCA is the only animal welfare organisation in South Africa that is governed by legislation through the SPCAs Act, with the NSPCA as the statutory body tasked with enforcing the Animals Protection Act.
Peacock said that Tshwane SPCA was first warned in 2021 of the dire financial position of the regional society.
Despite countless assurances that the Tshwane SPCA was “getting their house in order”, he said that the society was relying on a legacy investment to fund the operations of the SPCA, which the NSPCA said was fast running out.
“In terms of the act, financial statements need to be submitted to the NSPCA by July 31 every year. Once the financial statements were not received last year, the first 30-day letter went out,” he said.
The NSPCA was placed on the committee in terms of Section 6 in late May this year.
Then the second set of financial statements was late this year.
“The other reason why we were placed on the committee was in terms of the SPCA’s Act, and terms of the Non-Profit Organisations Act is that you need at least five office bearers to be constitutional.
We can’t have two people running the show and making decisions, we need at least five and a maximum of 10.”
“The conundrum is that the Tshwane SPCA has a dual registration as a non-profit company (NPC), so they have three directors, two of which do not serve on the committee.”
Peacock said that without the financial statements, it was impossible to assess the financial position of the society.
From bank statements, the NSPCA discovered that the society had been using a large legacy donation of R9-million to run its day-to-day operations.
“From what we know, the solar [worth over a million rand] was installed from that money, and two new vehicles were bought, and the security cameras were put up [worth about R600 000],” said Peacock.
“However, they have also been on a monthly basis withdrawing from that investment into their main transactional account to pay the monthly expenses of the SPCA, because the expenses far exceed the income.
That isn’t sustainable. At a quick estimate, there would be about four months of money left in that account.”
Tshwane SPCA currently expends around R800 000 per month to cover operational costs at both sites, with only approximately R200 000 cash flow received from services rendered, donations, and fundraising.
Peacock said that the priority was to keep the SPCA open, especially the mandated priority of a functioning inspectorate.
Tshwane SPCA currently has only two qualified inspectors and one trainee.
Peacock said that historically, the Tshwane SPCA was used as a sort of training facility, and had 12 inspectors to cover the huge area.
The NSPCA has had to pay all expenses for August from its coffers as individuals who have resigned from the committee are still signatories on the bank accounts and have not been replaced.
“The society is on its knees and a desperate attempt is being made to resuscitate the dwindling organisation.
“Unless there is a serious turnaround in the financial position of the SPCA and sustained support from the community, the Tshwane SPCA’s future looks grim.”
Peacock said that the audited financial statements were expected on September 9, but that delays were expected as there was still outstanding information.
Jeanine Niemann-Greatorex, one of the directors of Tshwane SPCA, told Rekord that the reason the financial statements were late was because the society had changed auditors.
“We changed our auditors, and for five months nothing was happening. But they expected us to give them information because they wanted to qualify our audit, and we said no.
“We are not going to qualify it because there is no reason for it to be qualified. The information is there, no money is missing,” Niemann-Greatorex said.
“It was never withheld, national knew exactly where we were because we got 30-day letters for everything,” she said.
Niemann-Greatorex said that she asked the NSPCA for assistance in February, but was told that the NSPCA could not assist.
She said that the solar system was necessary as the Waltloo facility did not have an electricity connection due to unpaid accounts that she said were due to a dispute with the Tshwane metro, with cameras to protect the system.
“We did buy two new vehicles, because how are our inspectors supposed to do their work?” she said.
“We still have money in the bank.”
Sonal Valla, who was Tshwane SPCA chairperson at the time that the filing of the first set of financial statements was missed, said that the NSPCA statement posted on its Facebook page included several accusations that were incorrect.
“Our statements from Investec can show exactly how the money has been used.
The statement that [the NSPCA] made that the legacy that we were given has been used to run the operational costs of the SPCA is correct, and it is fast dwindling but the R9-million is not missing.”
Valla said that Tshwane SPCA did provide draft financial statements in December 2023, but said that the change of auditors had affected the financial statements.
“To catch up with the backlog, we couldn’t submit this year’s statements. But there are some amounts that they are still trying to consolidate.
When the NSPCA took over the Tshwane SPCA, they were fully aware of what exactly was missing and when the audit would be compiled and completed, but they also said let’s just qualify the audit. By that we mean let historical inaccuracies remain, let’s qualify it and continue.
But we made a decision and said no, it is only a very small amount that needs to be rectified. Let’s not get a qualified audit, let’s get an unqualified audit even if it takes us just a little longer. And that was the hold-up,” she said.
The NSPCA said that any query or offer of assistance may be directed to spcapta@nspca.co.za.
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