addresses social workers issue
5 April 2007
The Head of Department (HOD),
Members of the Senior Management Service,
Members of the press,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Department of Social Development in the Free State wishes to re-assert
its commitment as a foundation of the intensification of the fight against
poverty and underdevelopment. The core values underlying this commitment are in
ensuring that the Department serves as the heart in delivering a better life
for all the citizens of the Free State. Our work is informed by the ideal of
building a caring society of empowered and self-reliant citizens.
In undertaking this task, the Department requires dedicated, reliable and
consistent financial and human resources that can be channelled, in a balanced
manner to satisfy all pressing demands such as the need for a world class
infrastructure, a better skilled cadre of workers, a well organised civil
society, community based structures and projects to mitigate the scourge of
poverty, the mechanisms for building self-reliant communities.
We are committed as the Management of the Department to finding a balanced
approach that will see a responsive government that meets the expectations of
the people that it serves, whilst we are pro-active in finding solutions
towards a creation of a better future.
During the month of March 2007, the Department was met with an unfortunate
mass demonstration by Social Workers. This mass demonstration is unfortunate
because there are better ways that could have been found to register and
resolve the dissatisfaction of Social Workers. However, the manner of
interaction that was experienced and the inconveniences caused should not sow
seeds of doubt that services will be impeded in anyway. We would like to
re-assure the people of the Free State that those that are charged with the
responsibility of delivering services will do so as a matter of their
commitment to the building of a caring society.
This re-assurance emanates from, among other things, the fact that Social
Workers have agreed to a process of interaction that would result in resolving
those concerns that are a direct competency of the Department. This means the
two parties will continually engage in discussions on those issues that may not
have immediate solutions. We wish to further urge all our employees to always
follow proper channels that are provided by the Department to raise their
concerns and not seek to use the media to pressurise the Department to do
things that may not be in line with legislative requirements. I must emphasise
that I will not hesitate to ask management to employ its prerogative to
institute disciplinary measures against acts of misconduct and breaches of
protocol.
We note with serious concern the proliferation of media attacks regarding
allegations of corruption on the MEC and the Senior Management. These
allegations are with specific reference to "irregular appointments" that are
made by the Department. To this effect, the Department refutes any knowledge of
such acts, as we would have acted promptly upon detection and/or being made
aware of these. Our actions are guided by legislation, which prevents any acts
of wrongdoing on the part of any official or politician. Furthermore,
government has put measures in place to raise confidence of the members of the
public that ours is a transparent way of acting and conduct. There are
government agencies in and outside the department; specifically working to
uproot corruption within government and these must be used to report any
activities of corruption.
The Department has always prioritised the need to provide better and safe
working conditions for its workers. Whilst there is a challenge of availability
of office accommodation in the province, the management of the Department has,
since October 2006 visited the various Districts to assess the extent of
need.
To effect this, a task team was set-up comprising of representatives of the
Departments of Social Development and Public Works, Roads and Transport. Since
then, the Department was able to secure office accommodation in the form of
Sederhof Building to alleviate office accommodation needs for the Bethlehem
area in Thabo Mofutsanyana. The most recent initiatives have involved a joint
initiative for a better office accommodation complex with the Department of
Health. When this is finally approved, it will be a major boost for service
delivery in the Xhariep District. An implementation plan for upgrading office
accommodation in Kroonstad is driven by the task team.
The Health and Wellness of our employees is a major priority for the
Department. The recognition of this fact has resulted in the capacitating of
the Employee Wellness Programme. This together with the proposed strategy for
reduction of case loads for overloaded Social Workers will surely result in
productive employees. The Department is confident that although it is pressured
by the limitation of resources the opportunity will not be lost to seek ways of
securing better facilities that will enable the officials of the Department to
perform to their level best.
Social Work has recently been characterised by the Ministers of Social
Development and Public Service and Administration as a scarce skill. The
creation of posts in the Department has been determined in line with the
implementation of the New Service Delivery Model, which has challenged us to
attract sufficient numbers of Social Workers. This remains a challenge in the
Department. However, the implementation of the nationally developed Retention
Strategy for Social Welfare professionals will also assist in retaining Social
Workers already in the employment of the department.
Enquiries:
Mr Mondli Mvambi
Head of Communications and Marketing
Cell: 083 265 2612
E-mail: mondli@socdev.fs.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Social Development, Free State Provincial
Government
5 April 2007
Source: Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za/)
