Durban - The long-term sustainability of the SPCA is under threat because of eThekwini Municipality’s refusal to pay millions for services already rendered.
While funding for the work was approved in 2021, the municipality is adamant that it won't pay the SPCA for its services because there was no agreement in place.
The organisation’s Durban and Coast general manager, Caroline Smith, said despite this they had continued their services, but it has drained their financial reserves and their monthly deficit is growing.
Smith was quick to point out that the SPCA would not close its doors, but might be forced to curtail some of its services.
She said essentially the three SPCA branches in the municipality had to raise money to continue taking in strays on behalf of the municipality.
“If we do this year after year it’s not sustainable. I dread to think of what kind of decisions we will have to make.
“Non-payment for a municipal function, which is not our core function, is putting huge pressure on our finances, as we are carrying the costs for eThekwini. We are happy to provide this service because we know we are the organisation with the expertise and skills required to handle animals humanely. But the costs are enormous and we need eThekwini to take responsibility for the pound ‒ as they are legally obliged to as per the Pound Act,” she said.
The matter relates to the provision of shelter to stray animals collected by SPCA inspectors, field officers, drivers and the public and are taken to the three animal shelters in the municipality; Durban & Coast, Amanzimtoti and Kloof & Highway, said Smith.
Every year about 14 000 strays, many of them sick and diseased and a risk to members of the public and their pets, are taken in by the SPCA.
However, the municipality says the SPCA was found to be “non-compliant” and that it could not pay for services if there was no Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) in place.
Despite this, the Independent on Saturday has seen email correspondence dating back to May 2021 in which the SPCA is informed by the municipality that it would be paid R4 million in 2021 and that this figure would increase by 5% annually.
The emails also state that the City’s legal department would provide the SPCA with an agreement and also proposes a meeting to discuss monitoring and reporting. To date, however, the SPCA ‒ which relies on donations to fund its operations ‒ is still owed R12.6 m for services rendered to the City; R4 m for 2021, R4.2 m for 2022 and R4.41 m for 2023, said Smith.
The municipality’s head of communications, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, said the Auditor-General and the municipality’s Bid Adjudication Committee indicated that the SPCA was non-compliant as a service provider and would not be in a position to do business with the City.
“In relation to monies allegedly owed, that is inaccurate as there was no Memorandum of Agreement in place,” said Khuzwayo.
Smith said they started working on the documentation for the new contract even before the previous agreement with eThekwini had expired because they knew it would be an arduous process and there was no way that they were non-compliant.
“We have been through a protracted process of submissions and reports since 2020, before the last contract expired in 2021. We have complied with every requirement, including registration on the government Central Service Provider database, and we have been confirmed as their sole service provider. This matter has been with the Bid Adjudication Committee since October 2022 and we have been awaiting the ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ from them since. There has been no progress since,” said Smith.
Follow up questions to the Municipality yielded the same reply. “As stated in the previous response, there is no contract/agreement in place. There needs to be an agreement in place for payments to be made. There was no agreement, as stated in the previous email.”
That it was the City’s responsibility to draw up the agreement, and why this was not done, is not mentioned. They also refused to divulge how exactly the SPCA was non-compliant.
Apart from taking care of stray animals, the SPCA also provides discounted rabies vaccinations to members of the public, although that is solely the responsibility of the state vet.
Of the 14 000 strays collected per year, the healthy ones were re-homed and those who were too sick to be healed, were euthanised.
“Many of them are diseased and many of them have been roaming around for ages,” said Smith. She said at the Durban and Coast branch their monthly cremation bill was more than R150 000.
“Our concern is the welfare of those animals, we don’t want suffering. It’s a very big dilemma because we have the ethical responsibility to care for those animals,” she said.
However, if they were forced to make hard financial decisions, then the City would suffer, said Smith.
- Late yesterday, a municipal representative called Smith to say a MOA was being drafted for signature, effective July 2023 for three years without retrospective payments.
The Indpendent on Saturday