In an attempt to better understand the challenges faced by front line practitioners – the social work practitioners – and find ways to improve the delivery of social services in communities, the Minister for Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, has called a Social Work Indaba to discuss critical matters pertaining to the social work practice.
Having spent a lot of time interacting with communities through the department’s flagship outreach programme – Project Mikondzo – and various community outreach programmes, including “Taking Social Development to the People”, Minister Dlamini has acquired a good appreciation of the social challenges facing communities.
These include child-headed households, disintegrated families, alcohol and substance abuse, gender-based violence, child neglect, the abuse and neglect of the elderly, just to name a few. One of the most important things that have become clear through these interactions is the importance of the social worker as a catalyst in addressing these challenges.
The Indaba – to be hosted under the theme “Revitalising social work practice in South Africa” and attended by social workers from all nine provinces – therefore aims to develop proposals and interventions on how social workers can be assisted to contribute towards addressing these challenges as well as improve the way they deliver social work services.
The Indaba is a culmination of an extensive consultative process the department has engaged social workers across the country in. Through these consultations, the department has picked up critical issues affecting the social work practice that will be addressed during the three-day conference.
These issues include a shortage of social work supervisors, inadequate tools of trade for social workers, high caseloads caused by insufficient number of social workers in the field, psycho-social support for social workers, human resource matters, development, and many other issues.
Members of the media are invited to the Indaba, scheduled as follows:
Date: 24 to 26 March 2015
Venue: Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre, Durban
Time: 08h30 daily
Members of the media who will attend are requested to submit their names, ID/Passport numbers no later than 19 March 2015 to jaconiak@dsd.gov.za / 073 026 1111.
Follow the Indaba on Twitter: @DsdNews
Media enquiries may be directed to:
Lumka Oliphant
Cell: 083 484 8067
E-mail: lumkao@dsd.gov.za
