Ida Krantz gives us her take on the recently launched book, “Giving & Solidarity – resource flows for poverty alleviation and development in South Africa”. Giving speaks of the bonds of solidarity and to find such ties in a society haunted by crime and demoralisation surely gives new hope and motivation.

The question is; how can we tap in to these positive features of the South African society and make them instrumental in the course of building a just and society for all ?

By Ida Krantz, Social Work Intern at The Forum

On Tuesday, 1st April,  “Giving & Solidarity – resource flows for poverty alleviation and development in South Africa” was launched at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg. The event was opened by Colleen du Toit from Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), and the presenting panel constituted of; the Deputy Vice Chancellor of University of Johannesburg Professor Adam Habib, one of the authors as well as co-editor of the book; Mandla Seleloane, independent researchers and author of the chapter “Resource Flows in Poor Communities: a reflection on four case studies”, and Rajesh Latchman, National Coordinator for The Forum.

In his presentation of the book, Professor Habib gave a brief summary of the key findings and the strategic implications for governance that may be drawn from these findings. “Giving and Solidarity” presents an analysis of the first comprehensive investigation on giving by non-state stakeholders in South Africa. It describes and discusses resource flows for poverty alleviation and development in South Africa from the private and corporate sector as well as from individuals or foreign donors. Who gives, why, how much and to whom, are the questions that are sought to be answered and the book gives us, not only a map over the non governmental contribution to poverty alleviation, but also an empirical base for questioning existing assumptions about the nature and consequences of the giving. It is a broad based study that discusses giving in relation to race, socioeconomic status and religion as well as looking at characteristics of giving in different sectors of the society. The focus of the study lies on the non-state givers but a chapter on resource flows from the state to poverty alleviation and development has been included to provide a point of reference and to give a fuller picture that will enable a more comprehensive understanding of resources allocated to poverty alleviation and development.

One interesting finding was that giving takes place across social boundaries and that proportionally, poor people actually give more than wealthy people. A fact that challenge the assumption that resources for poverty alleviation flows from the richer part of society to the poorer communities as a form of philanthropy to balance the inequalities in the society. The amount of money spent on philanthropy in the world has increased over the last years, and in South Africa it has been a significant increase in money spent on social welfare after democratisation, both from the state and from non-state stakeholders. Still, poverty has not been alleviated, social inequalities remain and the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow.

Another key finding was that the greater part of donations is given to religious institutions. The reason for this was found to be partly the conviction amongst religious people that giving and sharing is a natural part of their belief, but also that religious institutions, even among non believers, are trusted to be honest and to “do good” and therefore the money donated to e.g. churches and synagogues is more likely to end up in the right places. However, the study shows a lack of transparency regarding how much money actually flows out of these institutions and most congregations were reluctant to show their books to the researchers. It was also noted that even if the money comes from the broader society and that giving across religious and racial boundaries has increased in pace with the democratisation process, the own congregation was often prioritised when it came to expenditure.

The lack of transparency was noted to be a common feature for most giving stakeholders. This poses, according to Professor Habib, a great problem for governance of the resource flows and formulation of strategies for poverty alleviation and development. If it is not clear how the money is spent and if it has any effect on poverty it is likely that money is being misdirected and trends, catchy advertisements and assumptions will guide the flow of resources instead of people’s actual needs.

Rajesh Latchman gave some civil society input on the content of the book and agreed that the lack of transparency is a major problem in all sectors, and clouds the picture of what is actually being spent on poverty alleviation and what is being spent on maintaining existing structures and systems. He claimed that the book points a finger to the NGO sector regarding the fact that big sums of money, received by various civil society organisations, remain unspent or have to be paid back due to lack of capacity in the organisations.  NGOs cannot be allowed to hide behind the fact that they are working for a “good cause”, and therefore be excused for poor management of resources, organisations and staff. He also brought to the discussion the discrepancy between many donors demand for quick and measurable results and the nature of sustainable developmental work, which often requires a more long-term perspective. This discrepancy, together with the financial uncertainty of many civil society organisations, creates a situation where people’s social and developmental needs are being compromised in order to create programs that will secure funding. This places some of the blame for underdevelopment at the door of donors, as the economic context within which poverty alleviation and development work is carried is contra productive to its own cause. Representatives for civil society must have the courage to bring forward the voice of the people they serve and do their part in the process of allocating resources to the right places.

A third point that was brought up for discussion was the often debated question, if social grants lead to dependency. Mr Seleloane explained that the findings from his case studies show that many people were highly dependent on the income from various social grants. However it could not be proved that these grants actually created dependency, it was more a question about the lack of any other opportunity to raise money for survival. On the other hand they were many examples where money received from social grants was transformed into different entrepreneurial activities, and by this, generating more money that would benefit more than just the social grant recipient. The problem of this creative use of the social grant was that if the recipient gained too much money he or she would lose the right to the grant, consequently not being able to sustain the business.

Conclusively it can be said that the core message of the book was: that even if resources from non-state stakeholders have an important role to play for poverty alleviation and development, they cannot be seen as a solution for challenges faced by the state on this matter.  As has been noted earlier giving has increased at the same time as inequalities in society grow, and there is a need for governance and coordination of the various resource flows. Philanthropy will only have a significant impact on poverty if it is incorporated in a political and economic system that is responsive to needs of the people. Nevertheless the study shows that there is a great potential for building a better society. A huge amount of people are actually willing to give of their time and sometimes scarce resources for the benefit of others. Giving speaks of the bonds of solidarity and to find such ties in a society haunted by crime and demoralisation surely gives new hope and motivation. The question is; how can we tap in to these positive features of the South African society and make them instrumental in the course of building a just and society for all?

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