Cape Town - As Child Protection week got under way on Sunday, the provincial government has cited “financial constraints” as among the reasons NGO budgets were severely slashed.
The provincial government has now called on the private sector to help with funding NGOs, while the national government says the state can not afford to put money where there was no accountability.
The Western Cape Child Protection Alliance, consisting of designated child protection services across the province – including ACVV, Badisa, Childline, Child Welfare South Africa, Community Action Partnership, Jelly Beanz, the Trauma Centre and others – has called out government for cutting its spend in the sector, despite high levels of violence against children in the country.
Last year, child protection organisations in the Western Cape said they attended to 51 742 cases of child neglect or abuse.
They were also responsible for 21 834 children in foster care, 860 children in child and youth care centres, 816 adoption cases and 6 525 children in drop-in centres.
“Organisations in the children’s sector have stood shoulder to shoulder with the government as trusted partners in the campaign to end violence against children. For example, in the Western Cape, NGOs render 55% of all child protection services.
“But they are required by law and service level agreements to deliver the same standards of care as the government for a fraction of the cost.
“On average, the subsidies received by NGOs from the provincial Department of Social Development (DSD) amount to a mere 42% of the fundings provided to government offices to render the same services,” said the Western Cape Child Protection Alliance .
The organisations were losing staff because they couldn’t afford to pay them, especially at the more senior levels.
“Our staff work incredibly hard, but when salaries are so low that they struggle to survive, they become demotivated,” said StellCARE director Bettie Nieuwoudt.
“We need to get social workers out of taxis and shacks. We are increasingly dependent on volunteers, who step in at 4pm when the paid social workers go home. These people are helping the community to tackle violence and we cannot even take them out of their own poverty.”
To continue providing professional services, NGOs have drawn on their savings, but they say as these reserves run dry, they can no longer deliver child protection services in accordance with the norms and standards expected by the Children’s Act.
Several offices have already closed, and more will follow suit as many are already running at a deficit.
Ilitha Labantu spokesperson Siyabulela Monakali said: “It is inexcusable that we still witness funding cuts for such a critical sector in our country, particularly NGOs that provide services for women and children. South Africa has an incomprehensible rate of violence that is perpetrated on women and children.”
Childline in the Western Cape receives more than 1 000 calls a month to its toll-free 116 number. The helpline offers counselling and guidance, and those children in need of care and protection are referred to specialist services.
Childline Western Cape director Ricki Fransman said: “Without the services provided by NGOs, thousands of children will be left without access to any kind of child protection service.”
South Africa has introduced a comprehensive legal framework aimed at upholding and protecting the rights of children, including the National Child Care and Protection Policy.
This envisages a transformation of the model of care, where investment in programmes to prevent violence aims to reduce the demand for child protection services to support and treat children who have experienced violence.
Lucy Jamieson, senior researcher at the Children’s Institute at UCT, believes that the investment has been inadequate. The pandemic created additional social pressures that drive violence, hence, the demand for child protection services was increasing not decreasing.
“Urgent action is imperative,” said Badisa CEO Basie van Wyk. “As an organisation, we do not want to stop our services, and we implore the government to prioritise the well-being of our children and extend the necessary support to NGOs like Badisa. Every child deserves protection from violence, exploitation and abuse, and we want to give it.”
Western Cape Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez said: “The Western Cape Department of Social Development will continue supporting designated child protection organisations (DCPOs) and we are trying to minimise the impact of fiscal challenges on these organisations.
“The department has been unable to increase subsidies to these DCPOs due to financial constraints, a reality facing many government and NGO entities across the board. We are aware of the fiscal challenges facing the NGO sector.
“As a government, we cannot support this crucial sector alone, due to limited resources. I call on the private sector to assist these DCPOs, and any citizen who is able to, to lend their support as well ... we require a whole-of-society approach to ensure no child is left behind.”
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said the government spent R8.2 billion every year on non-profit organisations and the state couldn’t really afford to cut the funds for NPOs.
“We don’t want any budget cuts and we’ll engage as far as possible to make sure NPOs get the funding.
We have to increase the number of social workers.
“We have made our presentation to the Treasury, to say we need more money.
“But there’s another issue; NPOs must also be accountable, make sure they’ve got good governance, administration and management.
Government can also not afford to be putting money where there’s no accountability.”
Cape Times