Rivonia Circle, co-founded by Rise Mzansi leader and parliament’s accounts watchdog body chair Songezo Zibi, is preparing to return nearly R800 000 in unspent Danish government funding after the country’s embassy in Pretoria raised suspicions over the think-tank’s failure to account for grant money.
The organisation received R1.294 million but spent only R504 926 on programmes intended to facilitate engagements between political parties on coalition governance.
Awaiting instructions on unspent funds
Rivonia Circle board chairperson Lorato Tshenkeng told Sunday World that some of the planned activities became impractical after the 2024 elections, leaving the organisation awaiting instructions from the Danish Embassy on how to return the balance.
“The Rivonia Circle will be returning unspent funds and the Danish Embassy has yet to communicate to us about the mechanism for returning unspent funds,” Tshenkeng said.
The controversy emerged after a Danish Foreign Ministry document dated May 6, surfaced on social media, detailing concerns about the organisation’s handling of a grant approved for the period between December 2023 and November 2024.
Missed audit report deadline
The document, titled “Suspicion of irregularities in relation to Rivonia Circle’s activities in South Africa”, says Denmark approved DKK800 000 (about R1 996 436) for the organisation, of which DKK477 018 had been disbursed. Danish officials identified the entire disbursement as the amount under suspicion after Rivonia Circle missed a deadline to submit its audit and narrative report.
“After several reminders and request for the audit and narrative report, all communication from Rivonia Circle ceased,” the document reads.
The embassy subsequently dispatched a representative to the organisation’s offices, only to find the premises empty.
Danish officials approached external stakeholders, including the European Union delegation in South Africa, for assistance and consulted lawyers about possible mediation.
Communication failures
Tshenkeng attributed the difficulties to communication failures caused by personnel changes and Rivonia Circle’s relocation to new premises.
“What caused the concern was a communication breakdown that was exacerbated by both organisations having team transitions at the same time,” he said.
“There was a misunderstanding after they could not reach our office. This has since been resolved and we are maintaining our stakeholder relationship with them.”
He said the organisation had moved offices at the end of January after its lease expired.
Rivonia Circle, which has counted sociologist and political commentator Tessa Dooms among its directors and board members, said the dispute did not arise from the misuse of donor funding.
In the statement it said the disagreement concerned whether expenditure had been confined to activities covered by the grant agreement rather than other programmes.
“The activities were both time sensitive and contingent on parties being open to engagements,” he explained. Attempts were made to adjust the programme before it became apparent that some of the proposed activities could no longer be implemented.
“No further disbursements were requested as the period two activities proposed were no longer possible. This was agreed by both parties,” Tshenkeng said.
He said the audit and narrative reports had been available since late last year and were submitted to the Danish Embassy in early June.
He said the last communication from the embassy was received on June 12 and no further concerns had been raised. Tshenkeng said future engagements had not been ruled out.
Malicious leak
The organisation has questioned the circumstances surrounding the circulation of the Danish document.
In the statement on Friday, Tshenkeng said the “embassy’s document was leaked, which is malicious. We don’t know who circulated it.” He said the organisation had accounted for the expenditure through independent auditors. “We can also assure our stakeholders that we never use funds for unofficial or unintended purposes,” he said.
- Rivonia Circle is preparing to return nearly R800,000 in unspent Danish government funding after suspicions arose about failure to account for the grant money.
- The organisation received R1.294 million but only spent R504,926 on programmes related to coalition governance engagements between political parties.
- Danish officials raised concerns after Rivonia Circle missed a deadline to submit its audit and narrative report, and their office was found empty during a visit.
- Rivonia Circle attributed communication failures to personnel changes and office relocation, and they submitted the required reports to the Danish Embassy in early June.
- The organisation denies misuse of funds, stating the issue related to whether expenditures were confined to grant-covered activities, and condemned the malicious leak of the Danish Foreign Ministry document.
Rivonia Circle, co-founded by Rise Mzansi leader and parliament’s accounts watchdog body chair Songezo Zibi, is preparing to return nearly R800 000 in unspent Danish government funding after the country’s embassy in Pretoria raised suspicions over the think-tank’s failure to account for grant money.
The organisation received R1.294 million but spent only R504 926 on programmes intended to facilitate engagements between political parties on coalition governance.
Rivonia Circle board chairperson Lorato Tshenkeng told Sunday World that some of the planned activities became impractical after the 2024 elections, leaving the organisation awaiting instructions from the Danish Embassy on how to return the balance.
“The Rivonia Circle will be returning unspent funds and the Danish Embassy has yet to communicate to us about the mechanism for returning unspent funds,” Tshenkeng said.
The controversy emerged after a Danish Foreign Ministry document dated May 6, surfaced on social media, detailing concerns about the organisation’s handling of a grant approved for the period between December 2023 and November 2024.
The document, titled “Suspicion of irregularities in relation to Rivonia Circle’s activities in South Africa”, says Denmark approved DKK800 000 (about R1 996 436) for the organisation, of which DKK477 018 had been disbursed. Danish officials identified the entire disbursement as the amount under suspicion after Rivonia Circle missed a deadline to submit its audit and narrative report.
“After several reminders and request for the audit and narrative report, all communication from Rivonia Circle ceased,” the document reads.
The embassy subsequently dispatched a representative to the organisation’s offices, only to find the premises empty.
Danish officials approached external stakeholders, including the European Union delegation in South Africa, for assistance and consulted lawyers about possible mediation.
Tshenkeng attributed the difficulties to communication failures caused by personnel changes and Rivonia Circle’s relocation to new premises.
“What caused the concern was a communication breakdown that was exacerbated by both organisations having team transitions at the same time,” he said.
“There was a misunderstanding after they could not reach our office. This has since been resolved and we are maintaining our stakeholder relationship with them.”
He said the organisation had moved offices at the end of January after its lease expired.
Rivonia Circle, which has counted sociologist and political commentator Tessa Dooms among its directors and board members, said the dispute did not arise from the misuse of donor funding.
In the statement it said the disagreement concerned whether expenditure had been confined to activities covered by the grant agreement rather than other programmes.
“The activities were both time sensitive and contingent on parties being open to engagements,” he explained. Attempts were made to adjust the programme before it became apparent that some of the proposed activities could no longer be implemented.
“No further disbursements were requested as the period two activities proposed were no longer possible. This was agreed by both parties,” Tshenkeng said.
He said the audit and narrative reports had been available since late last year and were submitted to the Danish Embassy in early June.
He said the last communication from the embassy was received on June 12 and no further concerns had been raised. Tshenkeng said future engagements had not been ruled out.
The organisation has questioned the circumstances surrounding the circulation of the Danish document.
In the statement on Friday, Tshenkeng said the “embassy’s document was leaked, which is malicious. We don’t know who circulated it.” He said the organisation had accounted for the expenditure through independent auditors. “We can also assure our stakeholders that we never use funds for unofficial or unintended purposes,” he said.
