NPO Help Desk Walk-In Centre re-opens

The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) would like to remind the public that the Department’s Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) Help Desk Walk-in-Centre has re-opened under the current Alert Level 3 Disaster Management Act regulations, and is ready to assist NPOs with their queries.

The NPO Help Desk was established to assist with registration support, compliance status information, NPO training, and certificate distribution.

“Without the support of our NPO partners, we would not be able to deliver the services to many vulnerable citizens in this province. NPOs support the Department in providing services in many sectors including; child protection, substance abuse, early childhood development, youth cafés, older persons, disabilities, victim empowerment; to name a few,” said the Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Sharna Fernandez.

NPOs provide essential services to communities across the Western Cape and thus, are required to practice good governance, transparency and accountability.

The NPO Directorate within the Department of Social Development registers organisations under the Non-Profit Organisations Act No. 71 of 1997. The primary purpose of this Act is to encourage and support organisations in a wide range of work they do by:

· Creating an enabling environment for NPOs to flourish.

· Setting and maintaining adequate standards of governance, accountability and transparency.

The Act provides a voluntary registration facility for NPOs.

As part of the national ‘Know Your Status Campaign’, NPOs are encouraged to use the provincial DSD NPO Help Desk to determine their compliance status.

Many organisations have reported that they don’t know their status, or didn’t know they had to submit annual reports. Nationally, 54% are non-compliant. When NPOs visit the Help Desk, those with outstanding reports will be provided with the necessary support and documentation to facilitate compliance.

NPOs can access the service by visiting the walk-in-centre during the times listed below, or by emailing npo.helpdesk@westerncape.gov.za

Please adhere to COVID-19 protocols:

• Days: Monday to Thursday (closed on Fridays)
• Time: 08:00am to 14:00pm
• Address: 9 Wale Street, Customer Service Contact Centre
• Email: npo.helpdesk@westerncape.gov.za
• Telephone: (021) 483 0987/ 3808

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