Budget cut endangers vulnerable Gautengers

Gauteng’s Department of Social Development has come under fire for reducing the budget for social welfare services by R216-million for the 2023/24 financial year, which has caused a welfare crisis across the province as reported by the Daily Maverick.

Lisa Vetten, a research associate at Wits University’s Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, has described the decision to allocate funding to recycling projects, sewing school uniforms, and running cooperatives as “monumentally uncaring.”

Many nonprofit organisations (NPOs) were not adequately informed about the budget cuts, and no alternative plans have been put in place for those in need.

The situation needs to be remedied through litigation as the rights to administrative justice have been denied, Vetten said. Organisations have given law firm Webber Wentzel power of attorney to act on their behalf and represent them pro bono.

Photo: Facebook / @Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG)