“I’m going to lead the ANC. I will lead this ANC. It doesn’t matter what time it takes,” Malema told journalists in his first remarks since his expulsion last month.

“We are not submitting. We’re going to fight this political battle,” he said.

Despite his expulsion, the ANC Youth League insists that he remains their leader, creating a new political headache for the party of Nelson Mandela, which has ruled since the end of the white-minority government 18 years ago.

The party’s internal battles with Malema are the most visible face of the ANC’s leadership contest, leading up to its elective conference in December when President Jacob Zuma will seek another term as chief.

Given the ANC’s huge support among voters, the ANC chief is almost guaranteed of winning South Africa’s presidency.

Malema was once a vocal campaigner for Zuma, at one point vowing to “kill” for him. But his fiery rhetoric eventually became too much, as Malema advocated seizing mines and farms and called for “regime change” in democratic Botswana.

But Malema said he would not start his own political party.

“I will die in the ANC. This is my home and nobody is going to chase me away from my home,” he said. – AFP

Brown Dash

Its eight years to the day that music icon Brenda Fassie died few years ago and today the South African music industry is said to have lost another of their own.

According to News 24 Celebrity condolences have flooded social networking sites Twitter and Facebook after rumours that kwaito artist Brown Dash, whose real name was Simphiwe Mpamile, died early on Wednesday, May 9 in the evening.

Word on the street was that Dash committed suicide; however these rumours aren’t confirmed yet, reported  Wonted website.

The news came hot on the heels of his recent performance at Mzansi’s biggest music night at the South African Music Awards when he joined fellow kwaito musos Mandla “Spikiri” Mofokeng, Bricks, Skhokho and Madluphutu to perform the hit Ngeke Balunge.

The singer cut a frail yet exuberant figure and he sang and danced along for the cheering crowd.

Last Thursday he attended the “Godfather of kwaito” Mdu Masilela’s 40th birthday at Envy Lounge in Sandton City.Although still looking a shadow of his former self, the former TS Records star entertained a group of friends that included Jairus “Jakarumba” Khuse.

It was indeed a shock to many on the social network when kwaito artist Bricks tweeted; “RIP. Brown Dash. Soholala sikuthanda. [We’ll always love you].”

When asked by a follower it if was true, the musician responded, “Ang’dlali skhokho. I just left him 10min ago. Now I’m getting a foun call yokuthi hs passed on.” [I’m not joking dude].

Dash, who hailed from Zola, is best remembered for hit songs like “Phans’ komthunz’ welanga”, “Siya jiva akekho ugogo”, “Puff and pass” and “Umthandazo wabo lova”.

He was also instrumental in the success of fictional character Mzekezeke, impersonated by DJ Sbu, in 2002, while still part of the TS Records stable. After parting ways with TS Records in 2009, he joined DJ Cleo’s label, Wheels of Steel, where his star shone a lot less brightly, becoming regular tabloid fodder.

His career never recovered from the parting with TS Records.In spite of this, he was adored by many in South Africa. “A kwaito legend gone too soon! May he rest in peace!” tweeted producer and rapper Psyfo.

“Another fallen soldier #BrownDash R.I.P Boy!!!,” tweeted R&B muso, Verd Eaton. Other celebrities including Bonang Matheba and Kwela Tebza joined in sending condolences. “Another Legendary artist gone… All that is left is memories and maybe a hologram… Rest In Peace Brown Dash.. #LoveUAlwaysFriend” tweeted @DJQness.

AIMING HIGH: Jah Rose performing a poem

BLOEMFONTEIN – Three young writers have published a book of poems entitled Free State of Mind in time for Mother’s Day.

The young women Lebo Leisa, Rita Chiawa and Nthabiseng “Jah Rose” Jafta were unfazed by the challenges, even after their two friends Thesa Miller and Ntombi Ntlakakase dropped out along the way.

Speaking ahead of the launch which took place at the Bram Fischer building in Bloemfontein on Thursday, May 10 Jafta said: “Most of the things are spearheaded by men so we also wanted to be heard and be seen as capable artists as well. It was unfortunate that some of the people we started with last year dropped out of the project.”

She said they hoped to change the way things were done: “We are taking our work to another level; we want to change the myth that black people are lazy to read and write. We are proving that myth wrong and showing that we can do all those things.”

Jafta said they hoped for support from the public. “We are going to tour the country and  neighbouring countries to promote the book. We will be calling on all the people to support us,” said the self-publisher.

She is confident that like her first book, Rooted from the Heart, which she published last year, Free State of Mind will also be appreciated.

“My book worked so well and it is continuing to sell. I am confident that this one will do even better than that,” she said.

Meanwhile, Leisa, who has contributed 10 poems to the book said she hoped people will love and appreciate her work. “I expect people to love all of my poems in the book as some of them teach and praise the work done by women,” she said.

She encouraged other women writers not to give up on dreams of publishing books,  advising them to grab the opportunities.

Lesia said: “We do not write poems only but we write everything. We express our views, opinions and lots more. For our fellow young women artists, they should not give up but stay determined and pursue their dreams.”

BLOEMFONTEIN – SABC 3’s life and style show, Top Billing will on Sunday, May 13 host a two day event of auditions for a presenter search at the Willow Lake Protea Hotel in Bloemfontein. The show last had auditions in 2010 and found the face of the magazine programme in Cape Town.

According to the show’s website, producers hope to get another presenter from the City of Roses.

“Now we are in Bloemfontein where some of the hopefuls that auditioned seemed to have a rather interesting take on what it takes to be a Top Billing presenter with hilarious results. This is one insert that should not be missed,” it said.

It is the second show from SABC 3 to bring its auditions to town after the soapie, Isidingo -The Need. The show has more than two million viewers and is one of the fastest growing shows.

Like any other entertainment audition producers expect a high turnout.  Auditions have previously taken place in Durban, Nelspruit and Port Elizabeth.

Production coordinator of Tswelopele productions Simone Gray said on Thursday, May 10 the event is looking for one presenter. “We are holding the auditions around the country and we will have 10 finalists and put them to the test to whittle down to one presenter,” said Gray.

The auditions are running until the end of June. The winner will be announced on the show on Tuesday, August 7.

“We will announce the winner live on our show and we do not mind race, we are looking for a possible candidate of the job,” he added.

BLOEMFONTEIN – A fire broke at the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipal offices on Thursday, May 10 as striking workers laid siege to City Hall to press home demands for a review of their wages.

A tense standoff ensued between the workers and armed riot police who had been scrambled and rushed to the seat of local government to keep the protesting workers at bay, although no clashes were reported between the two sides.

The largely peaceful strike action nearly turned rowdy though when smoke was seen billowing from inside the Bram Fischer Building along Nelson Mandela Road around mid-day. It was not clear how the fire started.

The workers are demanding that management fulfill promises to bring their salaries and wages to the same level as workers in other metro around the country.

The salaries should be backdated to last year when Mangaung assumed metro status. They also want a 30 percent wage increase.

While the protesters claimed that they were only picketing for “what was rightfully theirs”, for 39-year-old Makalo Diba (not his real name), it is not just about the increase but more about the survival of his family.

“I am a father of two plus a grandchild. I earn a gross salary of R5000 that is reduced to almost R2000 after deductions. Keep in mind that I live in Botshabelo and I have to buy the R530 tag and two others for my children who attend school here,” said Diba.

He said the money is not enough to cover essential needs like groceries and clothing.

“How do they think we survive on such a small salary when we should have received the 30 percent rightfully due to us since Mangaung became a metropolitan,” said Diba.

He also said that management only seemed to react to violence and nothing else and that they felt disrespected, considering that they were also parents.

“We just want our monies because the amount we earn is too little and those salaries are rightfully ours and we should be paid like other general workers in other Metropolitans,” said Diba.

Mampai Letlaka, 43(Not her real name) said that she was a mother of two taking care of her 59-year-old mother and also travelling from Botshabelo everyday on a meager salary of just over R5000.

“My mother does not get the old age pension fund so she is also my burden and my children’s father is one of those who decided to run away,” said Letlaka.

She takes home R2400 but has to buy two bus tickets for herself and her daughter which cost over R1000.

“My mother is not included on my medical aid that is part of the deductions but I have to ensure that I have money set aside just in case she falls ill. How do I buy groceries and still buy clothes for my children?” she asked.

She echoed Diba, saying that municipal bosses disrespected them and did not consider that they also had families.

“We are the ones who do the real work on the ground yet they are the ones getting paid, that is just not fair,” she said.

One of the workers who were made permanent just recently, Lebogang Matwabe, 25, said that although he was happy to have a job he felt exploited.

“I have been working as a casual worker for the municipality for the past three years and have only been permanent for three months. The money we are demanding is ours because in other municipalities people earn that 30 percent increase we requested not this five percent they are said to be offering,” said Matwabe.

He said that he was taking care of his siblings and his mother with a few maintenance payments for his children.

“I make sure that potholes are closed and that no cars get damaged but some other people are getting the money for my hard work.”

Pule Molalenyane, the spokesperson of South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) however suggested that negotiations between the parties had deadlocked.

“They are not committing to any offer and are creating the impression that they do not have any mandate from their political principals,” Molalenyane said.

“The municipal manager, her team and the councilors have adjusted their salaries in terms of what other metros get. What we are saying is that the people who are doing the real work should also get an adjustment,” said Molalenyane.

But the municipality through its communication manager, Qondile Khedama released a statement stating that the strike was illegal.

“It has come to our attention as the Mangaung Metro Management, that there might be a possible staging of industrial/strike action by employees. As management we have not received any formal or legal notification regarding the planned action from any of the two recognised trade unions (IMATU and SAMWU),” said Khedama.

He added that the municipality would consider the anticipated industrial action as unprotected and illegal in accordance with the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

“Furthermore the employer is not obliged to remunerate an employee for services that he/she does not render during a protected strike, thus the application of the “no work to pay rule” will apply during the anticipated industrial action,” said Khedama.

“As management we will continue applying our open door policy, particularly with regard to labour matters.”

BLOEMFONTEIN –Four municipalities in the Free State have been listed in the bottom ten, out of 153 municipalities whose water quality was audited, although the quality of South Africa’s tap water has improved since the first Blue Drop Certification in 2009.

The four municipalities, Nketoana, Mafube, Phumelela and Masilonyana were perched at positions 143, 145, 146 and 150. In 2011, they were ranked 149, 140, 151 and 148, but Bloemfontein water has been certified safe to drink.

The highest ranking Free State municipality was Matjhabeng, listed twenty-fifth. The recently declared Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, the provincial capital, was in position 50.

However, this doesn’t mean that the water is unsafe for consumption although residents in the four municipal areas have been advised to boil their drinking water.

Free State scored an overall 73.60 percent putting it in seventh place on the provincial Blue Drop performance chart out of the country’s nine provinces.

“The overall national drinking water compliance figure recorded at 98.93%,” said Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa on Monday, May 7 when she released the National Blue Drop Quality Assessment Report for 2012.

However, although they have dropped in position, the report shows that the municipalities’ Blue Drop scores have increased when compared to the previous year.

Environmentalist and author Dr Anthony Turton said: “In general, if water is provided by a reputable supplier like Bloem Water, Rand Water or Umgeni Water, then the consumer can be confident that it is of a high standard.”

Molewa said: “I am pleased that, through our efforts as the water sector South Africa’s tap water remains among the best in the world and we are one of only a hand full of country where you can drink water directly from the tap.

“The report of 2012 shows significant improvements which serve as evidence of the positive impact this incentive-based regulation approach is having on the South African water sector. The first Blue Drop report of 2009 indicated that the national microbiological compliance for South African tap water was measured at 93.3% against the National Standard (SANS 241). Notably this has increased to 97.3% in the 2012 reporting cycle.”

The Blue Drop Certification Programme was introduced by the department in 2009 as a means to improve the quality of drinking water by auditing water systems in municipalities.

Although the quality of water nationally is not compromised, environmentalist Turton, who was also named South African Environmentalist of the Year in 2o10, said that a number of factors could have contributed to the municipalities whose water is not safe for consumption.

Turton continued: “In my professional opinion, one of the major drivers has been the loss of skilled people from the water sector. The reasons for this are many and varied, but an important element that runs through all of them is the redeployment of cadres into areas that require technical competence that they simply do not have.

“I have reached this conclusion after many encounters with the same core problems and as much as this is not a popular conclusion to reach, it is what I am seeing happen all around me. As a society we will need to ask if we want to have technically competent people in charge of things that affect our daily lives such as water quality and service delivery, or whether we want to perpetuate the rewarding of individuals for political loyalty instead,” he said.

Molewa has however warned residents in the affected areas not to consume water without boiling it first and clearing it of impurities.

“Communities have been informed not to drink the tap water without improving the quality first by either boiling or using other methods of purification. We are working

closely with these municipalities to bring the water quality up to standard,” Molewa said.

While boiling water is a safety measure, caution also needs to be exercised when doing so, particularly in the company of children.

Turton said: “Boiling is a precaution but then the consumer must be aware of the risk arising from burning, specifically of small children, when hot water is being poured.

“The largest source of contamination is in storage containers. Often clean water from a tap is contaminated from bacteria found in buckets or other containers. All containers must be kept clean and hygienic. Bleach can be used as a disinfectant, but again this exposes the user to new risks of either over-dosing, or else of having children drink the bleach which is harmful in concentrated form.”

REDDERSBURG – Angry residents of Reddersburg on Tuesday, May 10 stormed out of a meeting called to draw up a road map to end the sleepy town’s intractable problems when government officials failed to adequately address their concerns.

The emotionally-charged meeting attracted the MEC for Human Settlements and Cooperative Governance Olly Mlamleli, Head of Department Kapung Ralinkontsane, Kopanong Local Municipality mayor and acting municipal manager, but ended prematurely following the walk-out.

The long-awaited meeting was called to address issues raised during a protest march in April which saw 53 people being arrested for looting and vandalism in the town, some 50 km west of Bloemfontein.

Thabo Josane, a resident leader said that they were unhappy with the authorities’ failure to engage with the people.

“There was no commitment as such from the province or the mayor. We wanted an engagement with them because the lack of engagement is exactly what caused the first protest march,” he said.

Josane continued: “In the afternoon, they met with a few of us, and we thought the same process would unfold here because the community wants them to hear from them.  The mayor is never here so that was the only chance they had. It is not enough to have a meeting with two people only because we are a very small fraction of the community.”

Residents have demanded better houses, charging that some units under construction were  still incomplete or needed to be fixed due to the shoddy work done on them and as a result of a natural disasters which struck the Xhariep district in 2009.

In her budget speech in March, MEC Olly Mlamleli announced that Reddersburg would benefit from the “R181 903 716 million which has been set aside for installing various modes of infrastructure such as water reticulation and sanitation”.

She said that of the 26 915 residential sites to be developed in the province, 500 of these would be in Reddersburg. This project is expected to run over three years.

However, Mlamleli told the crowd gathered at the community hall that municipal officials together with Community Development Workers (CDWs) and leaders would go from house to house verifying the number of RDP houses which needed to be completed and fixed.

“The municipal officials, CDWs and community leaders should verify if it is indeed 218 disaster sites which have to be fixed and 47 incomplete houses which need to be finished. I have laid the foundation by addressing these issues, and now they need to work. All that’s needed is my signature,” she said.

Kopanong mayor, Xolile Matwa was shouted down when he tried to apologise for not being at the March 22 meeting where he was expected to accept the memorandum, saying he was out of town. Instead, a councillor from another town represented him.

“That only showed us that these people undermine us. The mayor is very untrustworthy,” said another community leader Moeketsi Aman.

Matwa also said that they would re-advertise the four posts for general workers which were frozen in 2009.

But Josane said: “These four unfilled posts have resulted in poor service delivery because there are no workers to get the work done.”

Matwa also said that the poor road network would be improved, and that they are already in discussion with the Department of Police, Roads and Transport to help the municipality out as it does not have the equipment with which to do the job.

If this comes to fruition, it would reduce pressure on people like Dimakatso Seshoba and Ntsheiseng Moshoesha who live in what have been called match-box sized shacks in Motswai Moletsane, one of the informal settlements in the area.

Much of the area, as reported in Public Eye recently, is without toilets. A few households which have new toilets and RDP houses are not using them because of the low water pressure.

Seshoba, 53, has been living in a shack in the informal settlement for over 15 years.

“All that I want is to be allocated a site so that I can build a proper place for myself. We don’t care much about houses because they are not coming anytime soon. Some of the people who found us here already have houses, and we just want a site we can call our own,” she said.

Moshoesha, 30, reiterated this, adding the elderly should are allocated houses first. “It is all because of this that we started a protest march. It is not fair that young people are already in houses whereas our elders are still struggling,” she said.

Public Eye also revealed last week that residents have to ask neighbours from another section to use their ablution facilities; which Moshoesha said posed a threat to the elderly.

She said: “Thieves have started to capitalise on the situation. When the old people need a toilet in the evening, they cannot go out because it is dangerous. At least if the toilets which were built last year were working, we’d ask there; but they are still locked.”

A demand was made that water problems be sorted out, to which Matwa responded that they have spoken with service provider BloemWater to increase the pressure of the water and make it accessible to more people. He also said units had been put in place to go around affected areas and fix the problems with incorrect billings for services.

Meanwhile, the residents were still adamant they wouldn’t pay for services until they were satisfied with the level of service delivery and the mayor and province delivered on their promises.

BLOEMFONTEIN – Walls on most buildings in the business district (CBD) of Bloemfontein are liberally plastered with pamphlets advertising “doctors” who claim to have powers to cure all manner of ailments ranging from the common cold to stubborn diseases such as HIV/Aids.

The innovative “doctors” have stepped up their game and posted touts at street corners to distribute leaflets and entice “ailing customers” to their “rooms”, often located in the backrooms of some seedy buildings in downtown Bloemfontein.

Some pamphlets extol the healing powers of the doctors, claiming the “doctors” are specialists in “penis enlargement, early ejaculation, strong erection” and can help “women who can’t see their menstruation and bring back lost lovers”.

But experts scoff at these blandishments, saying the line between authentic healers who can contribute to professional medical treatment and quacks have become blurred, endangering the viability of traditional medicine.

“For reasons of our history, where traditional medicine was forced to go underground, it is impossible in a metropolitan to differentiate [between genuine practitioners unlike in rural areas where it is still possible to do so.

“In rural areas where people know each other well, the community knows when one is called, undergoes training and graduates. In a metropolitan area, no-one knows anyone. If not, no-one cares about anyone,” said Professor Nceba Gcaleni from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) and Chair of the Indigenous Health Care Systems.

Professor Gcaleni said that for any profession to achieve some sense of dignity, it needs to be respected. However, amongst other factors, the viability of traditional medicine is also marred by those who parade as healers or as the pamphlets read, as “African Herbalist Specialists”.

In 2006, Zimbabwean national Kudzai Thompson (not his real name) came to South Africa in pursuit of a better future. In doing so, he joined the burgeoning business of herbalists and traditional healers.

When he started, he was on one of the many inner city corners handing out the pamphlets; with his day starting after 7 in the morning in time to meet the crowds rushing to work, and only retiring in the evening. For a week’s work, he made around R150, he said.

“So many people I know who are coming to South Africa are coming for that business. That’s how they survive. All of them are conmen, there is no future for them so they are getting it from the poor and vulnerable,” he said.

Curiosity about what happens in the consulting rooms got the better of us. Our team sought out a “healer” to help it “get back on track” with a few potions.

The healer in this case was a full-figured woman dressed in a red two piece suit, with gold jewelry on her hands and hanging around her neck. In the space of five minutes, the persona and appearance had changed dramatically as she donned her beads, from her head to her feet; and hid her red outfit under a silky shawl.  Meanwhile, her assistant, believed to be the Professor Kintu whose name is also on the flyer, explained to us the protocol before we went in to meet the woman.

A consultation session is R100 per person, and we were asked to take off our shoes before entering the hallowed room.

After obediently taking off our shoes, my colleague and I entered the room. A small tattered piece of curtain separated us from the “reception room”.

The small room was dimly lit and the only source of light was a small candle on the floor. The hard floor was cushioned by a few rugs and a mattress, on which we sat. Different animal hides hung on the wall, and there were numerous bottles of water and plastics which were filled with herbs.

“Some of the things they do look like miracles, but it is really just confusion and manipulation,” Thompson said.  “People go there because they are desperate for something. They have some sort of hope going there,” he continued.

The modus operandi of the healers, according to Thompson, is to stay in an area long enough to make a few R10 000, and then move onto the next town.

“These people don’t stay for long in one place. When I started working as a healer, I stayed for a few months and left for another place. I have been to a number of provinces and towns in South Africa. You cannot stay too long because eventually your clients realise what you’re doing and want their money back. As soon as I had made about R60 000, I left. You have to make money and leave before they come back for you,” he said.

Thompson said that he eventually got tired of conning people, and resorted to making a living through legal means. He currently works in Kroonstad, but said he continually fears for his life as most of the people he worked with in Bloemfontein are on the look-out for him.

Explaining why he left the money-making scheme, Thompson said: “What I was doing was not good, and I’m glad I came to my senses eventually. People depend on you and you are just abusing the trust and taking them for a ride.”

Our chosen herbalist attested to this. Before coming to Bloemfontein, she had been in Eastern Cape for over four years. If anything, her few mutterings of conversational IsiXhosa also gave her away. She travels between her office, as she calls it, in the Eastern Cape and the one in Bloemfontein. After we tell her our problem with bad-luck, we are told of a range of herbs we can get from her and how they should be used.

The most interesting part is that once we have burned the incense and herbs she gave us, we have to read the Daily Dispatch newspaper the following day and search for jobs. “They always have jobs there. Reading the paper increases your luck, the medicine I’m going to give you is just the first step,” she said as she laid out the instructions. But there was only one hiccup:  the Dispatch is an Eastern Cape publication, which meant we wouldn’t be able to consult it for advertised posts. “There is no Dispatch in Bloemfontein? I didn’t know that. But I swear it works because there are a few customers of mine who got a job that was there,” she said feigning surprise.

But Professor Gcaleni, said: “I hope such people have a conscience. Poverty should not make us stoop [so low]. There are many ways to make a living than to live a lie.”

Although there  is still friction regarding the co-existence of Western and traditional medicine in professional health sectors, people like professor Gcaleni have nonetheless advanced the fight for the rightful acknowledgement of traditional and indigenous knowledge as concrete healing methods.

“As a country recovering from colonialism and apartheid, we are all rediscovering ourselves, our heritage and defining what is important to us. Thus, distortions still exist but some of us have taken it upon ourselves to be different and focus on our Africanness and values,” Gcaleni said.

BLOEMFONTEIN – Young offenders who were released from prison on Monday, May 7 under a special presidential remission will find it harder to get jobs than their peers without criminal records, Acting Chair in the Department of Criminology at the University of Free State, Herma Foster has said.

“With this quick release of prisoners, I would also be concerned about the quality of the pre-release programme and support that the (young) prisoners will receive.  Will they be prepared for the challenges of the community outside the prison, or will they find solace in each other’s company and the company of other ex-prisoners?

“Will the community receive them back, including friends, family and even their victims, or will the only place where they will feel welcome be in the gangs that are related to the prison gangs,” Foster said.

She was also concerned about the effectiveness of supervision given that the number of prisoners released will be high.

“Are there enough supervisors that can guide these young people in their integration into the community?  It is a problem in a normal situation which is now just escalated by this release,” she said.

Foster said these questions and others are not being asked because of the number of prisoners who will be released in the coming months, but it is an ongoing question because this release is not unique.

The re-integration of prisoners (also young offenders) into the community should be of concern at all times and more should be done to help these people to live a crime free life, she said.

Their release was ordered by President Jacob Zuma on Freedom Day Friday, April 27 as a measure to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

The deputy regional commissioner Grace Molatedi said the remission will be done with extra caution to avoid previous mistakes when the wrong people were released.

She said those who will be released will be monitored from time to time as the department knows their addresses.

On Monday, May 7, 224 offenders were set free in Bloemfontein and another bunch which will include women will be freed on Monday, May 14.

The first remission was done in 1995 by the first black president Nelson Mandela on April 27.

BLOEMFONTEIN – The deregistration of a number of non-profit organisations (NPO) and public benefit organisations (PBO) is due non compliance with regulations, Tefo Kwenane of the Department of Social Development has said.

Briefing representatives of the organisations on Friday, May 4 Kwenane said that the problem came to the fore when government approached Absa to fund the organisations.

“The challenge is that everybody comes to us for funding because we do not have stringent requirements for funding. Banks require audited financial statements but we don’t,” said Kwenane.

He said that Absa was failing to assist the applicants because a number of the organisations referred to them had been deregistered.

“A lot of organisations are deregistered because they normally do not send the registrar their audited financial reports and their annual narrated reports. They do not comply even after receiving reminders to comply and notice of compliance,” he said.

He attributed the failure to comply with the fact that a number of organisations are administered by elderly people who do not understand matters of compliance.

“We create platforms like this once in a while to talk about issues that affect the sector because we deal with the sector a lot and when they experience problems we also face the same challenges because we work with them,” said Nomhle Klaas from Corporate Social Investment and Government Relations at Absa.

Klaas said that taxes posed a major challenge to the organisations because of its complex nature. “Tax issues have been a thorn on them because it’s complicated to you as person but it is even worse when it comes to the NGOs because it is on a bigger scope of taxes. We normally pick up issues like these and this time it was tax.”    Klaas said that the organisations have not had a platform or a unit to go to that assists them with information around tax issues.

“A lot of this type of information is found on the internet and some of these organisations do not have access to the internet,” said Klaas.