The Department of Social Development will be hosting an Indaba for all 350 Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers of the Department of Social Development on 21 – 22 September 2011, at the Horseshoe Motel. The theme for the Social Work Indaba is “Developmental Social Work for Community Empowerment”.

The aim of the Social Work Indaba is to create an opportunity for departmental Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers to raise the challenges they experience with service delivery and the environment and to jointly seek solutions. Further it aims to empower Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers to render effective and efficient services.
Nomathemba Kela will deliver a speech on “Social Workers as agents of social change”, and Dr. Patrick Smith on the importance of Supervision, while Pastor Seekoei, will deliver a motivational speech.

The Social Work Indaba will highlight the following core issues during commissions:
1. Back to Basics. Social Work Methodologies and Practice, focusing on crisis management due to the turnover of staff, which lead to the compromising of prevention and therapeutic services, as well as high caseloads and demand for social relief.
2. Service Integration to improve Developmental Social Services, highlighting the importance of communication amongst the various focus areas in Social Welfare Services and the role that Managers must play to promote integration.
3. Service Specialization versus Generalization and Working Conditions, which refer to a wide range of issues such as decreased areas in order to promote intensive services; the importance of training in all focus areas in order to respond to the needs in communities; the role of Probation Officers, possibility that a generic approach will stifle upward mobility of experienced social workers, and general working conditions, such as office space, limited resources, (computers, vehicles), as well as issues such as the Retention Strategy.
4. Creating an enabling environment to promote effective supervision, as they are sometimes insufficient and overloaded with other tasks and in many cases is either non-existent or insufficient. Social Workers also tend to neglect their own well being. Managers also have to ensure that all training is CPD (Continuous Professional Development) accredited.

Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers are working in different spheres of the community although all strive for social justice through the promotion and enhancement of developmental social welfare services. In South Africa and in other parts of the world social workers continue to play important roles in addressing a number of the major global issues that have dominated the global agenda in the 21st century, such as poverty and inequality, peace, HIV/AIDS and refugees, as well as more specific professional areas such as foster care and inter-country adoptions. In South Africa, we face an acute shortage of social service professionals, especially social workers. This hinders the ability to meet the increasing demand for developmental social services. South Africa and the Northern Cape has lost over the past years quite a number of social work professionals to overseas countries and other sectors due to highly competitive salary packages and better working conditions. Recognizing the central role of the profession in the attainment of national priorities such as poverty alleviation, youth development, social crime prevention and social cohesion, the South African government has declared social work as a scarce skill profession during 2003.


Through this Social Work Indaba the Northern Cape Department of Social Development wish to strengthen the partnership with THE South African Council of Social Service Professions (SACSSP) and National Association of Social Workers – South Africa (NASWSA) in order to address the challenges that the profession is facing, by focusing especially on the implementation of OSD, The Retention Strategy and continuous training and supervision of Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers.

A Gala Event will be held on the eve of Tuesday, September 20 at the Kimberley City Hall, from 18:00. A total of 420 Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers, are expected to attend the Gala event. This total included all Social Workers and Social Auxiliary Workers within the Department and in other government departments, such as Correctional Services, Education, Health, Defence Force and SAPS, as well as those working for NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations), with the purpose of celebrating the Social Work profession and launching the Northern Cape branch of NASWSA. The Honourable MEC for Social Development, Mr Alvin Botes will honour social workers who has 25 years experience and those nearing retirement for the contribution they have made to the social work profession.

NASWSA is a voluntary organization which supports the professional development of Social Workers, Social Auxiliary Workers and students in Social Work and Social Auxiliary Work, in South Africa. The Association draws its membership throughout the country from Social Work Practitioners, Educators and Managers within the Social Work sector who are self-employed, or work in Non-Profit Organizations or Government Departments. NASWSA also is affiliated to the International Federation for Social Work, which afford them the opportunity to participate meaningful in the “Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development” and provide a national report to the South African Government in 2012, while participating in the celebrations of the United Nations’ Social Work Days.

The Vision of NASWSA is a unified association to enhance the image and standards of social work locally and globally, while the Mission is to serve as the united voice for social work to advance the interests and contributions of social work in its broader pursuit for social justice and human dignity.

NASWSA will be having a Conference on 28 - 30 September 2011 @ Nkosi Albert Luthuli International Conference Centre, Durban. The theme will be: Repositioning Social Services Professions for a Developmental State.

The media is invited to both the Social Work Gala Evening and the Indaba to be held on the 20 September and 21 September 2011 respectivley.


For further enquiries you can contact Nelmarie van Wyk, Communication Officer, Department Social Development, Northern Cape, Tel. 053 – 831 4041/079 875 0849.