funding

At present, South Africa (SA) has an extensive and lively non-governmental sector which boasts roughly 100 000 registered nonprofit organisations (NPOs) and an estimated 50 000 unregistered ones.⁽²⁾ SA’s large nonprofit sector is the product of a diverse society including a variety of ethnic groups and a history that has informed the way in which South African society operates as a whole, as well as the way in which the nonprofit sector conducts its operations.

Post-1994, the tasks of confronting social inequalities and driving development in South Africa have increasingly become the work of civil society organisations (CSOs). This sector is already saddled with a mammoth task, but now also faces challenging economic and political constraints that have forced some CSOs to scale down on their activities, or close their doors altogether.

Each year the issue of space and access for civil society attending the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) continues to be a contentious one. It is becoming increasingly difficult to enter official sessions and side events. When one manages to overcome the exclusionary red tape, the space is far too limited to accommodate some 6 000 NGOs registered to attend CSW in New York.

'Budget will encourage greater giving’
 
Taking into account the very public outcry relating to the funding crisis experienced by many non-profit organisations, Inyathelo: The South African Institute for Advancement welcomes the proposal by Treasury to allow donations in excess of 10% of taxable income in any given year to listed Public Benefit Organisations (PBOs) to be rolled over as allowable deductions in subsequent years.