As promised, this week I bring you another element of the B-BBEE Scorecard to consider. In terms of the Revised Codes of Good Practice, non-profit organisations (NPOs) and social enterprises are tweaking their operations to access donations within the B-BBEE scorecard business spend. Whilst Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been in existence for a long time, the Not for Profit sector has flourished in recent times leading to at least 100 000 NGOs being registered in South Africa alone.
For most observers, they seem to be well-intentioned actors who do a lot of good on the continent. But NGOs also have their detractors who argue that they are receiving growing amounts of donor aid, but aren’t the most suitable actors for really improving people’s lives.
Non-profit organisations are independent of state and are usually funded by donations and may rely heavily on volunteers for their operation. They are highly diverse, are engaged in a wide range of activities and take different forms globally.
In South Africa, numerous NGOs face serious financial and capacity challenges with many already closing down or scaling back their activities depending on their success and sustainability. Many face increasing developmental challenges in areas including health, education and poverty alleviation and yet the need for these players have become vital as governments struggle to meet the needs of impoverished communities.
Should NGOs be regulated as skills development providers?
Skills development policies in South Africa encourage the use of the Not for Profit sector for implementation. For example, when you procure skills development through NPOs with a Level 1 B-BBEEE certification it enables your company to use 135% of the invoice value, thereby improving your score.
Many of these organisations started out as “capacity building” entities reaching out to donors and fulfilling the social responsibilities of corporate companies. Most of their training programmes have successfully provided skills to the young and unemployed. A large number of NGOs in the education sector have focused on offering short skills programmes that are not “accredited”. Short and focused interventions have improved language and life skills and given a second chance to those who dropped out of school sometimes out of necessity but mostly where coping mechanisms in formal main stream education and basic needs are not met.
Effectively this means that a large number of NGOs are a life line for many. But how can the quality of their offerings be monitored? And more importantly how can donors ensure that the funding they provide reach the people that it is intended for?
What are your thoughts and suggestions in this regard?
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