National Association of Welfare Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NAWONGO) Court Judgement – Infographic

The NAWONGO court case affects the way provincial DSDs fund social welfare services provided by NPOs, and the PER sought to quantify the gap between existing spending and spending levels that would comply with the judgement. Between 2012/13 and 2016/17, spending by provincial DSDs rose from R12 billion to R17.8 billion, an increase of 9.7% a year. Over that period provincial DSDs spending on social welfare services rose from R8.6 billion to R11.5 billion, an increase of 7.5% a year. Of these funds, subsidies paid to NPOs rose from just over R3 billion in 2012/13 to R3.7 billion in 2016/17, an increase of 5.2% — a much slower rate. Funding levels for social welfare services are low, constituting about 2.3% of provinces’ aggregate budgets. Spending in 2016/17 averaged at about R342 per poor person in the provinces, though there were substantial inequalities in spending, with the Western Cape averaging R622 per poor person and Limpopo averaging only R220. The PER suggests that implementing the NAWONGO judgement for all services currently provided would necessitate an additional R9.2 billion.