Irish benefactor calls time on charity building in townships

ENTREPRENEUR AND philanthropist Niall Mellon has decided to wind up his annual charity building blitzes by Irish people in poor townships in South Africa.

The businessman confirmed to The Irish Times yesterday that the week-long trip from Dublin by about 600 people on November 10th to Masiphumelele will be the last one organised to South Africa by the Niall Mellon Township Trust.

Since 2002, the trust has built about 20,000 homes and housed more than 100,000 people.

Mr Mellon said about 8,000 Irish people have travelled for the various building blitzes, raising about €40 million in donations for his ambitious housing programme for the poor of South Africa.

The decision to end the blitzes is the result of the government there increasing housing subsidies, said Mr Mellon. “We no longer require any money from Ireland to build these homes,” he explained.

“Our reason for being in South Africa has been cancelled.”

About €2.5 million has been raised here for the final trip in November.

This will not end Mr Mellon’s involvement in charitable work in Africa or South Africa. He said a surplus of about €5 million in the Irish charity, which is registered here as Mellon Township Ltd, would be used for work in other countries, beginning with the Republic of Congo.

The businessman is looking to build 100 houses in its capital Brazzaville, which was devastated this year by an explosion at an arms dump.

Mr Mellon, whose assets were moved into the National Asset Management Agency in 2010, said its sister charity in South Africa, Mellon Housing Initiative, has a surplus of about 100 million rand (€9.3 million) to distribute and would wind down over time. “We are looking at a number of options of how the surplus will be used. A final decision has not been taken.”

The decision to wind down in South Africa led to a legal challenge by members of the trust to prevent changes to its governance and board membership of the charity. It also raised issues about how the surplus would be managed.

Mr Mellon said the high court in Cape Town yesterday ruled in his favour and five new board members had been appointed to assert control over the trust. “It has been dismissed by the high court,” said Mr Mellon. “We are very pleased that the high court vindicated our position.”

The building blitzes garnered much publicity over the years, peaking in 2008 when 2,000-plus volunteers travelled to South Africa.

Mr Mellon said his decision to end them was tinged with sadness. “It’s been a head-wrecking decision. I’d like to thank the hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland who have supported this charity over the years. It’s been a shared success.”