Durban - The Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has promised to address the concerns of social workers.
This comes after she met with them in Durban yesterday at a breakfast held in their honour.
The social workers reflected on their challenges, including being underpaid, understaffed and working under immense pressure due to the case loads assigned to them.
Zulu said there needed to be a conducive working environment for social workers.
“Issues of scarce resources have made it difficult to bridge the gap in the industry. I am glad to have been a part of this event as it also closely addresses the issues faced by social workers. It is important that there is an engagement between social development and those who work in it.’’
She paid tribute to social workers. “I would like to commend the social workers for the critical role they play, for working in close partnership with the department and all other key sector stakeholders. Allow me to therefore take this opportunity to encourage you, despite the circumstances under which you operate, to continue fulfilling your duties and responding to the needs of the communities you seek to serve.’’
Dr Velo Govender, an individual and family therapist who organised the breakfast, said the event was aimed at allowing social workers to reflect on and acknowledge their important role in society.
She said the event was sponsored by her husband Ricky Govender from JRV Spares & General and supported by Marlin Naidu from Logtrans.
She said issues of unemployed social workers, poor salaries and scarce resources needed to be addressed by the government.
Aroona Chetty, the director of Phoenix Child Welfare, said she was glad that the minister attended the event. “We have highlighted the disparities in salaries between child welfare social workers and Department of Social Development social workers. We also highlighted the lack of financial resources, lack of technology and lack of office space,” she said.
“We want to encourage more meetings with the MEC as addressing these challenges requires collaboration with all organisations. Efforts should focus on strengthening child protection systems and improving access to essential services,” she said.
Sibongile Manyathi, a social worker, said the meeting was enlightening because it was clear that all social workers faced the same challenges.
“We need more events where we gather and discuss ways we can assist to reshape our department,” she said.