The efforts of the Motsepe Foundation were applauded by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe during his keynote address at last month’s African Rainbow Minerals Broad-Based Economic Empowerment Trust and Motsepe Foundation annual meeting in Sandton, Johannesburg.

He lamented that philanthropy was, however, not widespread enough among South Africans to fully address the growing economic disparity.

“The hearts of South Africans and the willingness to assist the less fortunate is at the heart of our humaneness as South Africans,” Radebe stated.

However, he highlighted that many issues hindered the efforts of nonprofit organisations (NPOs) and other civil society groups.

Radebe pointed out during his speech at the World Economic Forum, in June, that government alone would not be able to address the issues facing South African societies. “Economic competitiveness, national security and social injustices are converging in ways that make solving the problems associated with poverty the most urgent problem of our time. The reality is that a government which seeks to exclude willing and able private- sector partners to assist it is placing itself in the precarious position of failing in its mandate.”

He suggested that dormant and reserve funds needed to be unlocked to assist the less fortunate and that the organs of State responsible for distributing funds should follow a direct payment system similar to that currently being employed by the Road Accident Fund.

While he acknowledged that a direct payment model might receive resistance from those working in finance departments, it was “necessary . . . to save those to whom these funds are entrusted from the temptation of dipping . . . into . . . trust funds”.

Further, Radebe cited the findings of a National Development Agency (NDA) survey, which found that the Department of Social Development’s (DSD’s) registration office, the NPO Directorate, often lost documents or did not provide timeous responses. Further, the survey highlighted that responses from provincial and national officials were inconsistent.

He noted that government had “embarked on improving the capacity of the State”, in line with the National Development Plan to ensure noncompliant civil servants face “full sanction[s]” from the authorities.

“We are arming . . . to be more rigo- rous in our application of consequence management for members of the civil service who are not responsive to the needs of our people,” warned Radebe.

He explained that the Department of Public Service and Administration had established the School of Government to provide capacity building training, in line with international standards of public service.

Another challenge facing NPOs was the appointment of dedicated board members. Radebe stated that many members lost interest over time once they realised the significant commitment required and the lack of remuneration associated with running an NPO. He highlighted that this was a serious issue, as instability in an organisation’s board significantly depleted its ability to effectively develop poli- cies and make timeous decisions.

He added that board members often did not support management teams, and the lack of specified roles between such members and management often resulted in confusion and in-house conflict. Radebe said that regulations and legislation were not enough to address the challenge and that civil society organisations should do more to ensure that board and management teams worked together to achieve organisational goals.

The NDA’s survey also found several complaints concerning documentation filing, which was described as “tedious, lengthy and not user friendly”. Radebe pointed out that some NPOs lacked the capacity to effectively file documentation and recommended that donor organisations provide accounting training for recipients before grants and donations were released.

The survey also identified late payments by donor organisations as another constraint, which Radebe noted resulted in “many civil society organisations . . . experiencing cash-flow problems”. He added that several small organisations had folded, owing to delayed payments from government departments and State-owned companies.

To address late payments, Radebe highlighted that President Jacob Zuma “had assigned a new function to the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME)”.

The lack of corresponding monitoring and evaluation requirements between the DSD, State agencies, such as the Ithuba National Lottery, and the NDA, as well as corporate donors, was identified as another challenge. Radebe pointed out that organisations “desired a universal system, which would enable them to monitor systematically and report universally to all the stakeholders”.

Further, survey respondents stated that practical monitoring and evaluation tools were not accurately communicated to recipient organisations at the start of a project, often leading to confusion and a “perceived nonrealisation” of a project’s objectives.

Radebe suggested that monitoring and evaluating capacity should be developed to assist the performance of civil society organisations and asserted that government was trying to improve its own capacity in this area through the DPME, and urged that all South African organisations increasingly adopt monitoring and evaluation as a management tool, which would improve cooperation among government, civil society and business to develop South Africa.