Shelagh Gastrow, an outspoken champion of the nonprofit sector in South Africa and executive director of Inyathelo, which she started 10 years ago to build capacity in the sector, believes that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are facing the most serious threat to their existence since the apartheid government tried to close them down.

This threat is in the form of proposed legislation driven by the Department of Social Development, which says it is necessary to provide advice and training to smaller NGOs.

As Gastrow points out, this is already the aim of the existing law. The problem is that the nonprofit organisation (NPO) directorate, which the proposed new law will replace, lacks resources and skills and is incompetent, says Gastrow.

Source: Sunday Times Business Times