1. History

2. Basic approach

3. Goals for action

4. Legal framework

1. History

The NRSAD was established and launched on 21 August 1997.  This date marked a decisive turning point after a long period of public consultations at which the need for closer cooperation between the church, the religious sector, the state and public institutions was highlighted repeatedly.

The association was established by representatives of the religious organisations (Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic and Jewish) involved in a national conference on the transformation of welfare in South Africa, hosted in Cape Town by the EFSA Institute.

The establishment of the NRASD was a response to specific challenges:

• Firstly, it was a direct response to a challenge posed by a former minister of welfare and population development, Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, when she stated:

“There are obvious benefits to the establishment of a formal network of religious organisations. Ideally, this would lead to exchanges of best practice models, joint endeavours to improve the conditions of people through high impact initiatives and resources sharing. From a government point of view, and more specifically the welfare department, it will enable us to engage in a structured manner on a regular basis.”

• Secondly, in the absence of a national religious network that could enter into formal agreements with government and international donors, international support for social projects in South Africa could not be accessed.  Since the birth of the democratic South Africa, the lack of formal cooperation (and formal agreements) between the state and faith-based organisations had prevented local religious networks from qualifying for and meeting the conditions of international donors to receive substantial funding for social upliftment programmes.  International donor funding is increasingly directed away from South Africa, mainly to other needy parts of the world, for example Eastern Europe.

Today the NRASD represents the concerns and interests of different faith welfare networks, which include Baha’i, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic and Jewish traditions.  It has established itself in a relatively short period as an important national role-player that strives to fulfil the following functions:

• consultations with government departments and ministries;
• joint lobby processes for changes on programme level; and
• implementation of a new development partnership with the government.

• It acts as an instrument to foster inter-faith cooperation in social welfare and development;
• It pursues and supports the objectives of the White Paper for Social Welfare with concrete projects;
• It fosters further research into issues such as auditing and evaluating the quality and quantity of the services presently rendered by the religious sector, proposals for changes in tax legislation to foster donations and investments by individuals and the business sector for social investment;
• It seeks formal partnerships and contracts with the following role-players: (a) government (national and provincial); (b) existing religious or faith-based welfare and development services; (c) international state and business agencies that support social development projects; and
• It strives to provide a cost-effective, transparent and professional management service, in line with internationally accepted legal and financial control measures, to developmental welfare services.

The NRASD functions under the legal and financial framework of the Cape Development and Dialogue Centre (CDDC) Trust.  The CDDC Trust is a registered trust (IT661/95) and a registered non-profit organisation (016-588 NPO).

Subsidiaries of the CDDC Trust include the EFSA Institute, the Community Leadership Academy (CLA) and the NRASD.