“What remains now is to ensure that those organisations that rely on British funding are not beholden to the South African government because they need funding from them. We need to hold our private sector accountable to play its part in ensuring the government are not the only ones looking after our non-profit organisations.”
By Heather Walker on 4 June, 2013
The loss of £19 million of British aid may not affect South Africa’s development, being such a relatively small amount, but it’s likely to endanger those civil society organisations working to challenge SA government policy. This was the view of Democratic Alliance (DA) Parliamentary Leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, who addressed a South African Chamber of Commerce business breakfast on her recent visit to London.
“Many African countries, particularly since 2005, had forced their way out of the cycle of aid dependency and become more self-reliant. And the rise of the African economy is well-documented. This is fantastic news. South Africa is also emerging as a strong nation that can stand on its own two feet.So in one sense, Britain’s decision was evidence-based and pragmatic – every country, particularly in Europe, is tightening its fiscal belt and finding savings wherever it can. But as often happens in diplomacy it is not the issue, but how it is communicated,” she said.
Mazibuko did not believe the announcement was intended as a slight, given that South Africa is Britain’s most strategic partner in Africa, with strong historical, cultural and linguistic ties between the two countries.
“Foreign Secretary William Hague is highly respected in SA for his commitment to South African success. Our Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is equally well respected in the United Kingdom. The same is true of the entire British government. I met with the deputy PM and was left in no doubt about Britain’s friendship with and commitment to SA.”
However, Mazibuko said the sense that the British government had operated in bad taste was not helped by its current resistance towards letting foreigners in, illustrated by “this closing of rank, this desire to make Britain a fortress and of course the attack in Woolwich. There is an atmosphere of anti immigration, anti sending money abroad, so it’s politically useful for certain politicians to say ‘we are keeping British money in Britain’.
“Although the amount of money involved is quite small, the conveying of this decision could have been done more responsibly, and more sensitively. Undoubtedly there was an unintentional misunderstanding. But there’s little point in dwelling on this. The question is what is the impact going to be to be?”
Non-profit organisations that challenge government policy
Mazibuko said, “In some ways the decision to cut aid is more symbolic than consequential. A compelling argument for aid programmes is that they bring together players, national and international, who would not otherwise have been brought together, which incentivises dialogue.”
She said she agreed with Dr Greg Mills of the Brenthurst Foundation that ending aid will not affect South Africa’s development prospects, because this relatively small amount of R300 million is just 1 percent of national income, but that it will make a difference to those civil society organisations that depend on Britain’s aid.
“Aid often funds special projects, which may not be provided for by the national treasury. The department of social development tends to focus on non-political NGOs that implement policy while those organisations that challenge government policy or undertake work that illuminates the shortcomings of the state, such as the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) or Right2Know, tend to be funded from outside the country.
“Our democracy would not have come as far as it has without the support of these organisations. I think of the work that R2K did to oppose the secrecy bill, and the work of Zackie Achmat and the TAC to promote ARV treatment. The TAC and the government had a very antagonistic relationship – but had it not been for the initial challenge the TAC took to the ANC, Minister Aaron Motsoaledi would not be doing his work reversing the legacy of HIV. This is a partnership that enables the government to do its job better. We need to be challenged when we govern because otherwise we will only support those who support us. No matter which party is in power, it needs to be challenged not only from other political parties but from civil society.
“The question is who will help these organisations challenging government? I don’t like the idea of the government funding something like the TAC because some pressure might be brought to bear that would prevent them from being real activists. We know money is tight and times are difficult but that kind of funding cannot come from the state, it has to be borne by foreign donors with an independent interest – or by the private sector.
“What remains now is to ensure that those organisations that rely on British funding are not beholden to the government because they need funding from them. Many worthwhile charities are currently suffering from shortages of funding, and the tragedy is that we can’t seem to source the money in the private sector. We need to hold our private sector accountable to play its part in ensuring the government are not the only ones looking after our non-profit organisations.”
Policies to encourage private sector charity giving
Mazibuko believes the combination of a functional growing economy, macroeconomic policies that encourage giving and interventions like BEE that encourage social responsibility will enable the private sector to do more.
“My view is that economic growth creates a virtuous circle. The corporate social responsibility part of BEE requires companies that wish to do business with the state to use a certain amount of their turnover on corporate social investment. Unfortunately that’s not tax deductible. What the DA has proposed is that we increase the amount of money that can be used to start charities and invest in charitable work. At the moment you can only give R100,000 tax-free and we want to increase that to R1 million – because US foundations like the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are all founded from tax-deductible money and it would encourage more investment from the private sector to start those kinds of foundations.”
Increasing growth to increase prosperity
She added however that the big question was not about aid or charity but about ending poverty and increasing prosperity for all.
“We can only secure our future by putting into place the right economic policies. This is not to sideline the aid debate but to re-orientate the debate. It may seem a hard truth but SA was never going to succeed or fail based on the aid we received.
“South Africa is trailing behind other African countries in terms of growth. Accordingly, the DA last year put forward a growth and jobs plan that seeks to broaden economic opportunities by promoting private sector investment in the economy, fostering entrepreneurship and fast tracking growth. SA’s high rates of poverty and inequality are structural legacies inherited from our country’s apartheid and colonial past. To address this our proposed policies will bring to life dead capital to enhance black economic empowerment programmes, land reform and a proactive social security system. Combined with market driven skills development programmes the plan details a radical overhaul of the country’s labour market. It proposes a few tough but necessary reforms to labour laws that will reduce barriers to entry particularly at the unskilled end of the economy. They intend to stimulate productivity in principal labour absorbing sectors such as mining, manufacturing and agriculture.
“We have a massive supply problem in terms of education. The poor education level is a huge tax on South Africa. The ANC shut down a lot of teacher training and agricultural colleges which resulted in shortages in those areas and hasn’t nurtured an apprenticeship system that enables people who can’t get a tertiary education to acquire skills that are useful in the economy.
“The DA wants to reform education – the ANC has extended access so that most children in South Africa have access to a classroom but what they don’t have access to is quality education. Some teachers are getting a 0% pass rate and some are managing 100% pass rate teaching under a tree but those two teachers will be paid the same salary. We have to think about incentivising teachers to perform better and we have to place a limit on their right to strike during matric exams. Even things like drivers licenses – maybe the municipal government could offer a discount on the learner’s textbook, or on lessons – something that will enable people from poor communities to get that qualification that will bump up their CV enough to make them employable.
“On the demand side we have 900,000 vacancies for skilled work – that doesn’t just apply to lawyers, doctors, accountants, there’s also plumbers, electricians, etc – and no one to fill them. At the same time we have an unemployment rate of 37% because those who are unemployed don’t have the skills to fill that demand. We need to create demand by opening up the entry level market. We are backing the ANC’s youth wage subsidy but this currently can’t be implemented because the ANC is engaged in a dispute with Cosatu.”
Skills exchange
Mazibuko also said that there were many innovative ways in which the South African and British governments could partner in a way that isn’t aid but was a skills or knowledge exchange.
“One of the things we are proposing is that because we have a massive skill shortage and a shortage of technological knowledge, that we should establish a partnership with the UK given our historical links and shared language which enables students from South Africa to gain tertiary qualifications in UK in core areas of science and technology and bring back it back to South Africa. One of the ways this partnership could work is if visa fees were waived or a dispensation that allowed us reduced international student fees,” she said.
- Heather Walker
Heather Walker is the editor of The South African newspaper and TheSouthAfrican.com. She hails from Johannesburg and studied a BA in Journalism and English Literature, as well as a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education from Rhodes University in Grahamstown. She has lived in London for five years. Follow her on Twitter: @heathervalerie
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