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Date : 03/04/2006
Source: Department of Social Development
Title: Benjamin: Social Work Indaba


Speech by the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Dr Jean Benjamin, Social Work Indaba, Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria

Programme Director
Members of the Portfolio Committee for Social Development
Senior managers from departments Representatives from Institutions of higher learning
Organised Labour
Representatives from the South African Council for Social Service Professions
Representatives from the Health & Welfare
Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA)
Distinguished guests

It is a great pleasure and an honour for me to be part of this auspicious occasion, in which stakeholders converge to pursue one of the most critical challenges facing the country today. It is inspiring to have academics and practitioners gathered in one room, with the intention of sharing views and addressing issues of common concern.

This occasion comes at a critical time in the history of our country, the 10th anniversary of our Constitution, which ushered in a truly democratic society, in which human rights are respected and upheld. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Constitution, we need to reflect on the extent to which we have translated the values as espoused in our Constitution into reality for the people we serve, in particular those that are vulnerable and poor.

Our country is facing critical socio economic challenges. These require a concerted effort and a commitment by all, to meet the basic needs and improve the livelihoods of those who are affected, through interventions that have sustainable outcomes. In his budget speech on 28 March 2006, the Minister for Social Development called for co-operation amongst all sectors to ensure that as a collective, we address the challenges of poverty, unemployment, the scourge of HIV and AIDS and burden of other diseases, vulnerable and orphaned children, older persons and those who are victims of abuse, violence and crime. To address these challenges, the country needs a cadre of skilled professionals, key amongst which are social workers. The Minister, however, also acknowledged that there is a critical shortage of social workers in the country.

In fact, as a result of various processes of research and investigation, Social Work was declared a scarce skill by the Minister for Public Service and Administration. This led to the development of the Scarce Skills Framework in the Public Service and social work was included among other professions, addressed in this framework. Through the processes embarked upon by the Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA) social work was once more registered with the Department of Labour, as a critical and scarce skill.

This led to departmental initiatives such as the Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Work, which will be presented to you today. Whilst this strategy has not been finalised yet, a number of projects derived there from have been implemented. To name but a few:

1. The new generic job descriptions, which provide opportunities for career pathing and also define areas of specialisation for social workers; these job descriptions are now used in all government departments;

2. The improvement of the remuneration package for social workers in government, with due recognition for specialisation within social work field up to the level of Deputy Director;

3. The provision of 190 scholarships for social workers to the tune of R2.8m (which is over and above the normal bursaries allocated by government at provincial and national level); and

4. The first phase of the capacity building programme for social service professionals, which was conducted in all the provinces in 2005. A total of 1869 social service professionals, from both the government and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector, were trained. The trainees were predominantly social workers.

Whilst these initiatives are commendable, I must emphasise that they are not enough, a lot of challenges still remain. It is obvious that in order to provide developmental social services to vulnerable groups, adequate and trained human resources are critical. There is a serious crisis regarding the availability social workers. Social workers seem to be in demand within the country, in the social services sector, other departments, in the private sector, and internationally, in countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, etc. The country cannot meet this demand, which in itself is a problem; yet even if we do, as things currently stand we will not be able to retain these social workers within the sector and in the country.

Your being here is an acknowledgement that government cannot resolve these challenges alone; it needs a think-tank of experts to address the problem. We need the cooperation of institutions of higher learning to re-look at the way the training is provided in this country and devise mean to accelerate the training of social workers to meet the demand for services. For example, in terms of the Children’s Bill, 16 000 social workers are needed to implement services that children are entitled to in this country over the next three years. However, universities produce only about 300 per annum. There are numerous reasons for this, and to this end, the forum must explore workable and realistic solutions.

Although our state subsidised universities and institutions of higher learning produce an excellent quality of social workers and social service professionals, we have not been able to produce these professionals at the rate and pace of demands placed by our needy communities, various local sectors and international markets. It is important to note that South Africa has an open economy and as with other countries, cannot escape the impact of globalisation. We therefore cannot stop social workers going abroad, but need to create conducive climate for them to remain in the country.

The ultimate test of our collaboration will be the extent to which it assists us in rooting out poverty, social disintegration and unemployment in our society. In addition, we need to come up with creative ways of ensuring that as we attempt to meet the demand for social workers, we concurrently ensure that we deliver to the masses of our people that expect us to provide a service. Our communities, through the efforts of government and in pursuance of a rights based culture, have become more aware of services that they can expect to get from government and will demand such services. We need to ensure that we deliver these services.

In view of responding effectively to the current country scenario, we have sought to explore with you, the communal outlook in line with the Cuban model, which seeks to integrate the family and its needs, as illustrated to us by our Cuban colleagues. This outlook requires us to strengthen the capacity to manage family and individual needs through the training and deployment of social workers and social service professionals at a local level.

In South Africa, there is a definite over reliance on social work to render social welfare services. There is a plethora of other new social service professionals and workers that albeit with varied and diverse levels of training, are available to render social services. It would seem that these workers are not utilised maximally in their own right or to support the work done by social workers. Given the realities regarding social workers, the Recruitment and Retention Strategy requires that the sector should come up with a ten-year human plan for the utilisation of such professionals and worker. Adequate and proper utilisation of human resource capacity will result in effective, efficient and a good quality service.

It is in this context that we intend continuing collaboration with the peoples of Cuba and this region. Such collaboration will, no doubt, deepen our quest to identify common challenges and strategies in the developing world. We had hoped our Cuban counterparts would have been here, to share their model and experiences with us. However, all is not lost as they are still willing to visit our shores in the near future.

Programme Director, with respect to the transformation and provision of social welfare services, the Minister, in his budget vote speech mentioned that with the establishment of South African Social Service Agency (SASSA), the national and provincial departments of Social Development can now focus more on social welfare services, which were not previously given adequate attention and resources. The Integrated Service Delivery Model, launched in November last year defines the nature, scope and level of service delivery, as well as roles that are to be played by all spheres of government and organisations of civil society in social service delivery.

The model also provides a framework for service integration between different components of the Department of Social Development in order to promote sustainable livelihoods in communities. This integration will be implemented properly if the requisite human resource capacity is provided.

There is enough room for social workers, development practitioners and other cadres of workers in this country. The challenge is to ensure:

1. That they have the right orientation and are well trained to meet the demands of our country;
2. That they are placed appropriately according to their knowledge, skills and expertise;
3. That there is a seamless service to individuals, families and communities;
4. That the service is integrated so that all derive maximum benefit there from.

The extent to which we are able to provide quality social welfare services is fundamentally influenced by compliance with these conditions.

Programme Director, it is our intention that the opportunity created by the creation of SASSA is utilised to improve social welfare services. The initiative taken by the Department of Social Development, in response to the Minister, the Portfolio Committee and the sector’s call to this indaba is highly commendable.

Your invaluable efforts in consistently creating an opportunity for relevant role players to join the department in developing appropriate strategies for the crisis facing the country are always appreciated. These efforts will certainly benefit the masses of our people in responding to their needs. It is our hope that more collaborations of this nature will still be witnessed.

Ladies and gentlemen, in looking at the education and training institutional arrangements in this country, as individuals, and collectively, we should be asking ourselves these fundamental questions:

1. Do we have the appropriate and relevant capacity and capability to address the crises of skill shortages?
2. Is the current education and training supply commensurate to the needs of the communities?
3. Is articulation of education in the world of work improved?
4. What mechanisms can we put in place to retain the social work skill in the country?
5. How can we forge links as strategic partners to address the challenges we are facing as a country?

At the end of tomorrow, when we depart from this place, it should be clear to all of us, as strategic partners as to what needs to be done, how and when.

Your invaluable support, commitment and dedication to this process is acknowledged and appreciated.

I thank you.

Enquiries
Lakela Kaunda
Tel: (012) 312 7653
Cell: 082 782 2575
E-mail: Lakela.Kaunda@socdev.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Social Development
3 April 2006
 

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