Funding delays leave Gauteng NGOs struggling as thousands wait for help

Hundreds of NGO workers across Gauteng have gone without salaries for months, while thousands of vulnerable people are missing out on vital services because many organisations are waiting to hear whether they will receive government funding.

This is according to the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee, which said some non-profit organisations are waiting for decisions on their funding applications and appeals more than three months into the 2026/27 financial year.

The delays have left organisations unable to plan, pay staff and continue providing essential services to people who depend on them.

Among those affected is Ekupholeni Mental Health and Trauma Centre in Ekurhuleni, which provides support to survivors of gender-based violence. The organisation runs eight programmes, including a 24-hour post-rape care service at the Thuthuzela Care Centre and victim support services at 12 police stations.

Last year it directly helped 4,429 people, while its awareness campaigns reached almost 115,000 people. Despite the work, its 100 staff members have not been paid since April and the organisation has had to reduce some services to keep its round-the-clock rape care service running.

Its repeated requests to the Gauteng department of social development for answers about its funding have gone unanswered, or have been met with promises that officials will respond later, the crisis committee said.

The funding uncertainty has also forced MES Kempton Park to close one of only two homeless shelters in the region after the department decided to stop funding the service. The shelter, which has been operating for 40 years, will close at the end of July while alternative accommodation is sought for the 37 people living there. The organisation is waiting for the outcome of its appeal.

In Tshwane, Sanca Thusong has also been affected after receiving a sharply reduced budget. Rather than accept the reduced funding, the organisation lodged an appeal. Since May, staff have been working from home while waiting for an outcome.

Though Sanca Thusong has continued helping existing clients, it has been unable to accept 157 new people seeking treatment since April. Weekly support groups have stopped, schools can no longer refer pupils to its programmes and courts have been unable to refer people for alcohol and drug dependence treatment.

The crisis committee said the organisations are not isolated cases.

“These organisations are not outliers in an otherwise well-functioning system. Rather, they make visible the sustained deterioration of the Gauteng department of social development’s administrative capacities since 2023.”

The crisis committee has been monitoring the departmental funding processes over the past four years through the experiences of its 160 members.

The committee said the delays have trapped many organisations in a vicious cycle. Without funding decisions, they cannot sign contracts with the department and without signed contracts they cannot receive subsidies needed to keep services running.

According to the crisis committee, at least 550 jobs and services for 12,485 people were at risk by the middle of June because of the delays.

Some organisations have received final notices on unpaid electricity bills and have started retrenchment processes.

The committee said the department failed to meet the national deadline of March 25 for signing funding agreements with NGOs. It said when the first quarter ended on June 30, not a single organisation had been informed of the outcome of its appeal.

It said delayed funding threatens the government’s constitutional responsibility to provide social assistance, healthcare and protection for vulnerable people. It also pointed to a recent KwaZulu-Natal High Court judgment that found delayed subsidy payments to early childhood development centres were unlawful and unconstitutional, saying Gauteng’s NGOs are facing similar challenges.

The committee is calling on the South African Human Rights Commission to investigate subsidy payment delays across provinces.

It has urged the Gauteng department of social development to:

• Confirm without further delay the outcome of all organisations’ funding application and the outcomes of all appeals;
• Sign all outstanding contracts and pay organisations without further delay;
• Commit to firm payment dates for the remaining three quarters of 2026/27; and
• Publish a comprehensive list of all organisations funded in the first quarter of 2026/27, including the dates on which each was paid.

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