NGOs Look to Citizens to Help Build a New South Africa

Thursday, September 9, 2004 – 14:01

Seven years after South Africa’s first democratic election, reality has replaced euphoria. Today, most citizens acknowledge their government alone cannot meet all their needs or solve all the co

Seven years after South Africa’s first democratic election, reality has replaced euphoria. Today, most citizens acknowledge their government alone cannot meet all their needs or solve all the country’s problems. “While the political context has changed and everyone can vote, the economic realities remain the same, which means the issues of education, housing, unemployment, and access to health care all remain a challenge. But people now expect to participate in a process of change,” said Sibongile Mkhabela, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.

“For me, what is striking was the expectation that government could deliver everything,” she said. “People thought they would be employed, housed and have access to education. People weren’t so naive as to expect poverty to go away, but they did expect an easing of the burden. However, there’s no magic wand.”

by Maggie I. Jaruzel

Many say the country’s political changes over the past several decades would not have occurred without non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and volunteers. And just as these groups had a central role in the anti-apartheid struggle of the 1970s and ‘80s, they play a pivotal part in addressing today’s development challenges.
Gail Smith, director of Public/Private Partnerships in South Africa’s Department of Social Development (formerly Department of Welfare), said 90 percent of the department’s R19 billion ($2.37 billion) national budget is earmarked for direct payments to poor people, including the aged, children and those with disabilities. As a result, less than 10 percent is available to help organizations and institutions that provide services for people in need.

“The bulk of social services are rendered by NGOs,” Smith said.
She and others point to the many challenges facing NGOs in a country as vast and diverse as South Africa, where 37 percent of adults are unemployed and 8 million are homeless. Forty-one percent of citizens live in poverty, with almost 50 percent of the households lacking inside water taps and toilets.¹
Adding to the problem of persistent poverty is the HIV/AIDS crisis. A March 2001 report released by South Africa’s Ministry of Health showed that 4.7 million of the nation’s 41 million people have HIV/AIDS, ranking the country at the top worldwide for its number of infected citizens.² This pandemic will affect the economy, demographic patterns, social structures and political stability of the country and the region.

¹“Measuring Poverty in South Africa,” published by Statistics South Africa, 2000.
² Reports show the disease has orphaned 420,000 children nationwide. The sheer magnitude of the HIV/AIDS crisis is evidence that no single segment of society — public, private or nonprofit — can address it alone. Organizations such as the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund are targeting millions of rands to address the issue in a comprehensive manner that involves families and communities, not just children. But by their own admission, the effort is not enough.

How do nonprofit organizations focus attention on these urgent issues when they often are consumed with the day-to-day reality of trying to keep their doors open?
“In some instances, our department’s subsidies make up as little as 2 to 3 percent of a non-governmental organization’s budget,” Smith said. “They still have to do a lot of fundraising, which is why their funding crisis impacts on our department, because it affects the ability of NGOs to render social services.”

The nation’s most serious sores — racism and poverty — continue to fester. The economics of equality is still along racial lines, serving as an underlying factor in how people are treated and the way decisions are made.

In post-apartheid South Africa, laws have mandated racial and gender equality, and grassroots efforts such as those of Social Change Assistance Trust (SCAT) are working diligently to ensure that legal rights become living realities. The fancy airports, eight-lane highways and skyscrapers are as impressive as those found in any other international city. But many South Africans still spend hours collecting wood to cook over open fires. Some citizens fetch water from rivers, while others use wheelbarrows to transport containers filled at communal taps.
This is a country rich with natural resources, such as fertile farmlands and valuable gold, diamond and platinum deposits. But at the dawn of the new century, few citizens were benefiting from the nation’s wealth, ranking South Africa third in the world among countries with wide economic gulfs between the rich and the poor. ³
Studies show that half the population survives on R16 ($2) per day or less. It is common for senior citizens living on meager monthly pensions of R540 ($67) to serve as the only source of income for many extended family members.

³ “Human Development 2000 Report on South Africa” by the United Nations Development Program.

Today, the nation’s major cities face many challenges. Sections of Soweto aren’t very different from those poverty-stricken streets televised around the world during the civil unrest of 1976. Cape Town — long recognized as an international vacation destination, with majestic mountains as a backdrop for the beautiful, jagged coastline — has large sections of persistent poverty. Its citizens, rich and poor alike, have been gripped with fear because of gangster activity. The city’s number of sexual assaults ranks it among the world’s worst for violence against women.
Although the statistics are staggering in many areas, there are positive indicators on several fronts that the trends can be — and, in some cases, are being — reversed. On a national level, a peaceful election and transition in 1994, a world renowned new Constitution in 1996, Nelson Mandela’s stepping down as president and the successful election and transition to new President Thabo Mbeki in 1999, and the beginning of needed service delivery, especially in terms of electricity, water and health, all demonstrate that South Africa is moving forward.

“There’s enormous potential in South Africa to tap local resources to address these concerns,” said Christa Kuljian, director of Mott’s South Africa office.
“There’s enormous wealth, both financial and human, to bring to bear on the country’s development needs.”
She said South Africans are determined to address their own challenges — whether it is by operating a rural, roadside vegetable booth to raise money for a new community center, or testifying before Parliament for tax law changes that benefit donors and NGOs.
“This is not a homogeneous society, but we need a common bonding,” said Minister of Education Kader Asmal during a September 2000 speech. It is indeed a diverse country with 11 official languages.
For those working in the NGO sector, there is a renewed desire to see citizens come together to share in shaping the country’s future. During apartheid, the NGO sector’s presence was visible — whether serving as a voice for political organizations that opposed the country’s racist policies or providing direct welfare-type services to those denied access to government programs. Since the 1994 elections, some NGOs have assumed the role of monitor, watching the new government’s policies and procedures to ensure equal access and fiscal responsibility.

Other NGOs have sought ways to exchange their adversarial relationships with government for partnerships in an effort to maximize resources to meet needs. For example, the Western Cape Community Chest recently created the position of government liaison, which was previously a non-existent job title within South Africa’s nonprofit sector. Designating a person to keep abreast of changing laws and to serve as an advocate for NGOs is expected to benefit not just the Community Chest, but the entire nonprofit sector in the Western Cape.
Nonprofit organizations are playing an increasingly important role in South Africa, as noted in the preliminary findings of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Global Research Project on the Nonprofit Sector. The report, shared at the South African Grantmakers Association Annual General Meeting in September 2001, revealed that there are almost 99,000 nonprofit organizations in the country. They comprise 5.2 percent of South Africa’s formal, non-agricultural employment.
The study described these nonprofits as stable organizations, having been in existence an average of 19 years. The oldest NGOs in the nation, which have been established for an average of 38 years, are faith-based.

“The strength of the church is that it has an extensive presence,” said Ishmael Mkhabela, executive director of Interfaith Community Development Association. “Churches are found everywhere — among the poor, the middle class and the very rich. Everyone has a church. Our challenge is to be seen as a powerful stakeholder.”

Smith of the Department of Social Development said the government must acknowledge and use the “extensive infrastructure” of faith-based organizations to provide services where they are needed most.
As the new South Africa marches forward, some leaders are looking for inspiration from traditional African practices.
There is a growing appreciation for the South African traditional concept of ubuntu-buthu, or communal care, which prompts people to pool their resources, whether it is combining rands for burial services and savings clubs or helping build a neighbor’s house

is sense of social responsibility has the potential for increased involvement from the corporate sector and needs to be nurtured further. As elsewhere in the world, some businesses are beginning to encourage employees to donate time and money because of the public relations and marketing value they get in return. Today, some South African businesses are listening to requests to do more than simply write checks to charities. They are starting to offer their much-needed expertise to NGOs in areas of finance, management and technology. (See related article, Page 22.)
As a result, the country’s public, private and nonprofit sectors are beginning to link arms in an attempt to gain a better return on each group’s investment of time, talent and financial resources. While cautioning that these are still the early days of collaboration, the NGO sector continues to push for innovative ways to mobilize additional resources.

Many are hopeful that in the near future, potential South African resources — such as money from the National Development Agency, the national lottery and the Poverty Alleviation Fund — would flow more effectively to meet local needs.

Campaigns to increase individual and corporate donations have been stymied in the past by unfavorable tax laws. However, many NGO leaders are optimistic that changes, which became effective in July 2001, are the beginning of widespread reforms. As NGO leaders petition legislators to create a more favorable tax climate, they are also establishing new vehicles for giving, such as community foundations.
Finding and tapping resources is a vital challenge for nonprofit groups. As a result, NGOs are exploring new strategies to supplement traditional fundraising. Seven case studies describing new approaches are detailed in a publication released in September 2001 called, “Creative Strategies for a New Era: South African NGOs Mobilize Local Resources.”
The report was commissioned by Ashoka, an international nonprofit organization with an office in Johannesburg.
“These new approaches are necessary to sustain an active NGO sector that provides the creativity and vitality needed to address development challenges such as HIV/AIDS, literacy and job creation,” said Anu Pillay, director of Ashoka’s South Africa office.