During the pre-1994 era this Department was responsible for the administration of the Fund-raising Act (FRA). The purpose of the FRA was to control fund-raising by the public. The Director of Fund-raising had vast and sweeping powers.
It was compulsory for organisations to be registered and the procedure for registration was subject to bureaucratic discretion and took a long time. This was the reality that informed legislative proposals from the NGO sector at the time.
In an unprecedented way this Department consulted the sector and their proposals (in the form of a draft Bill) largely informed the NPO Act as it stands today. It was the intention to put in place an Act that would give the director limited power over the sector, organisations a choice in whether they want to register or not, to encourage the sector to be responsible and accountable to itself, to provide for ways in which information about the sector is made publicly available and to do away with the provision that made it illegal to raise money without an authority.
*Registered Section 21:2002/024772/08