Dept of Social Development South Africa

The Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, will on Tuesday - 03 November, launch the virtual Know Your NPO Status campaign. The launch seeks to outline the process of deregistration of non-compliant NPOs which will unfold in four phases starting from 2021.

The first phase of deregistration will commence in the beginning of March next year for non-compliant NPOs which were registered between 1998 and 2012. Second phase will be on 01 July 2021 for NPOs which were registered between 1998 and 2012.

These are NPOs which submitted reports in previous years but remain non-compliant. The third phase will be on 01 October 2021 for non-compliant NPOs which were registered between 2013 and 2015. The last phase of deregistration will take place on 01 April 2022, for NPOs which were registered between 2016 and 2019.

The launch will further encourage registered NPOs to know their compliance status, update organisations details and submit annual reports in order to comply with the NPO Act requirements.

The Minister of Social Development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, will virtually launch the Know Your NPO Status Campaign on Tuesday, 03 November 2020. The campaign which started last year, seeks to encourage registered Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) to know their compliance status, update organisation details and submit their annual reports in order to comply with the requirements of the NPO Act.

The Department of Social Development is the custodian of the NPO Act 71 of 1997, which provides for voluntary registration and establishes administrative and regulatory frameworks within which NPOs can conduct their affairs. The primary objective of the NPO Act is to encourage and support NPOs in their contribution to advancing South Africa’s developmental agenda as articulated in the National Development Plan (Vision 2030). This is based on the understanding that a strong and capable civil society can play a collaborative and developmental role in a democratic society.

The launch also seeks to outline the process of deregistration of non-compliant NPOs which will unfold in four phases starting from April 2021.
The first phase of deregistration will commence at the beginning of April next year for non-compliant NPOs which were registered between 1998 and 2012. The second phase will be from 01 July 2021 for NPOs which were registered between 1998 and 2012. These are NPOs which submitted reports in previous years but remain non-compliant. The third phase will start on 01 October 2021 for non-compliant NPOs which registered between 2013 and 2015. The last phase of deregistration will take place on 01 April 2022 for NPOs registered between 2016 and 2019.

The Department of Social Development invests R7.6 billion to NPOs that render social development services and compliance with the provisions of the NPO Act assists NPOs to be fully accountable and transparent about the funding they receive from respective funders. When NPOs are compliant and transparent, they increase their opportunity of getting more potential partners and funders.

As of September 2020, 233 180 NPOs were registered with the Department and only 30% of the registered NPOs were compliant. This is a disturbing picture and the Minister will, tomorrow, encourage NPOs to comply or to visit the NPO website on www.npo.gov.za to submit and upload their annual reports and other documents. Due COVID-19 regulations, NPOs are encouraged to go online and verify their status as opposed to visiting NPO offices.
Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the launch of the Know Your NPO Status Campaign arranged as follows: