Programme directors,
The National Chairperson of the NACCW, Mr. Donald Nghonyama,
The Patron of NACCW, Dr Don Matera,
MEC for Social Development and Special Programmes, Dr. Pemmy Majodina,
Deputy Mayor, Cllr Nancy Sihlwayi,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to address this conference, which is dealing with matters that are indicators about the values of our society. Nelson Mandela stated, “there can be no keener revelation about a society’s soul than the manner in which it treats its children”.
The discussions here today are therefore about our collective consciousness and how we can enrich the soul of this country. Building a society that invests in children and takes care of them, requires individuals and organisations to put the needs of children first. A consciousness about putting children first will allow us to let go of our professional insecurities, needs and wants in the pursuit of workable strategies that will indeed enable us to take care of all our children. I trust that this is the spirit that will underpin the deliberations at this conference.
This was the spirit that guided our deliberations at a meeting between myself and the provincial MECs here in East London a few days ago. We had a lengthy discussion about how to best deal with services to children, especially child-headed households. We concluded that we cannot proceed with a “business as usual approach” and tasked the senior managers at the national department, led by the Director-General to develop a clear strategy on how we should provide services to children. This includes looking at how we use the available human resources and competencies to improve the manner in which we deliver services to children. This includes, outlining very clearly to us the roles that child and youth care workers should and can play.
I am sure that guided by an understanding that in order to improve our services, we cannot work as we have been over the last few years, that you will assist us by developing clear and concise proposals about the roles of social workers and child and youth care workers.
The need to put children’s needs ahead of our own individual and organisational aspirations is predicated by the context in which we find ourselves. South Africa is confronted by many social ills which pose threats to the well-being of children and expose them to potential neglect and abuse. Poverty and the compounding impact of HIV and AIDS are the biggest of these threats.
Families have become dysfunctional with children assuming the responsibility to take care of their siblings as a result of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This essentially deprives children of the required care and support that could groom them for a better future.
The growing number of orphans places a huge burden of care on extended family networks and communities that traditionally support these children. This has also put undue pressure on the social workers due to lack of such professionals in our country.
Due to the high number of orphans as well as the persistent challenge of poverty, a number of responses to the plight of children tend to focus on material support aimed at meeting their basic needs. The death of a parent impacts negatively on the protection, quality of care, psycho-social well-being and access to basic services for any affected child. It further increases the child’s vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.
Research indicates that in addition to psychological distress resulting from the death of one or both parents, orphaned children are more vulnerable to poverty, illness and abuse. They are at higher risk of HIV infection, malnutrition, stigma and isolation. Orphaned children and those living in child-headed households have increased, adding to the number of children who are profoundly impacted by social and economic underdevelopment.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, by the end of 2005 the number of people living with HIV in South Africa was estimated to be 5,5 million. By 2007 an estimated 5.7 million South Africans were living with HIV. Approximately 1, 3 million of these were children. Of the country’s 18 million children, nearly 21% (about 3.8 million) have lost one or both parents.
More than 668 000 children have lost both parents while 122 000 children are estimated to live in child-headed households. These children grow up without parental care, protection, nurturing and financial support. In the current context of poverty and HIV and AIDS, households in which children live alone or take main responsibilities of care and support are an inevitable reality. It is important therefore that appropriate care and support arrangements are given to children who bear the burden of these adult responsibilities.
The Children’s Act makes specific provision for adult supervision of child-headed households where the eldest child is over the age of 16 years. However, in cases where the eldest child is under 16 years of age, alternative care arrangements have to be considered for the children.
Given this situation, society has a responsibility never to allow children to feel abandoned because their parents have departed the earth of the living. At the same time, this responsibility must guide our actions never to let these children feel helpless or vulnerable simply because their parents are terminally ill. Our African tradition teaches us important and fundamental values that say: your child is my child and my child is your child. This simply means that every child is my child!
As the Department of Social Development, we have a responsibility to create an environment of care, protection and support for children in line with the legislation. It is for this reason that we announced in the 2011 Budget Vote that we plan to recruit and train 10 000 Child and Youth Care Workers over the next three years to support children living in child-headed households, using the Isibindi Model.
This model was developed by the National Association for Child Care Workers (NACCW) to train and employ community-based Child and Youth Care Workers to provide intensive child care to children who live in child-headed households or households where adults are ill due to HIV and AIDS.
There are currently 67 established Isibindi projects, implemented by 51 non- government organisation (NGO) partners, which employ a total of 787 Child and Youth Care Workers and reach over 60 000 children a year.
Based on available evidence it appears as if the Isibindi model is workable for the provision of prevention, protection and early intervention services for children. We therefore plan to provide these kinds of services to R1,4 million vulnerable children in different communities over five years through the Isibindi approach. We will focus our work in rural and informal settlements, especially areas of high HIV and AIDS prevalence and poverty.
This initiative will contribute towards government’s priorities on education and health by ensuring that children stay in school and have access to nutritious food through the school feeding scheme programme and Early Childhood Development, among others. In addition, it will ensure that they are protected from abuse and have access to social assistance. To date, 536 000 foster care benefits are paid out to different beneficiaries.
I must also indicate that the Isibindi Model will also support government’s priority to create decent work opportunities, particularly in rural areas. This will not only be about job creation, but also career paths that will expose the recruited trainees to skills development within the social development sector.
As you know, we have inaugurated the South African Council for Social Service Professionals and the Professional Board for Social Work in December last year. In taking forward the work of the previous Board for Child and Youth Care Work, the department established an interim structure for Child and Youth Care Work to proceed with the work done by the previous board.
The interim structure was build on the platform created by the previous Professional Board for Child and Youth Care Work and developed a proposed code of ethics as well as proposed regulations for child and youth care workers at auxiliary and professional levels. The structure has also facilitated the establishment of a database of Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa.
I am happy to announce that during the course of this month, the process of nominating and subsequently appointing a new Professional Board for Child and Youth Care Work will commence. This Board should be operational by December this year. It will be responsible for the registration of practitioners at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level four to seven.
Once established, the Professional Board for Child and Youth Care Workers will be responsible for the code of conduct as well as setting of minimum standards for education and training in the child and youth care sector.
The department and the council will continue to work closely to make provision for the accommodation of other higher levels of the Child and Youth Care Work qualification.
As the NACCW has been implementing the Isibindi model, our view is that over a period of time we should find other implementing partners in Civil Society who will be trained and capacitated on the Isibindi Model. For many years, a large portion of our work as the department, especially on welfare services, has justifiably been implemented by NGOs.
We reiterate government’s commitment to support all organisations and initiatives aimed at addressing the plight of vulnerable children and protecting their rights. As a society, we must never allow space for children to be vulnerable, for their rights to be violated and for them to be abused or exploited.
It is our collective duty to create an environment in which children will unleash their full potential in order to reach their dreams.
I wish you a successful and fruitful conference and remember, children first!
Thank you.
Speech by the Minister of Social Development, Ms Bathabile Dlamini, at the eighteenth Biennial Conference of the National Association for Child Care Workers (NACCW) in Port Elizabeth
