WE NEED YOU! The social development department has decided to recruit retired social workers in an attempt to rescue the profession

Minister Bathabile Dlamini said the experience and institutional memory of retired social workers could make a positive change and improve service delivery in the profession.

“This decision was taken with the aim of reinforcing and bringing back the integrity and dignity of social work in South Africa,” she said.

Dlamini was speaking at the launch of the Social Work Veterans’ Forum.

She said her department considered it appropriate to establish a forum which would help restore social work in the public domain.

“In order to ensure that the impact of this initiative is felt where it is mostly needed, at grassroots level, we have also pushed for the establishment of dedicated and efficient structures in provinces,” she said.

This approach was aimed at giving young and upcoming social workers a chance to learn from their veteran counterparts, who had been in the field before.

Dlamini said plans were afoot to provide retired social workers with refresher training.

Her department would serve as a base from which the forum would operate.

“I would like to make a humble plea to the social work veterans to take this work very seriously,” she said.

“Please do not allow this initiative to degenerate into a talk-shop mired [in] politics that prevent it from delivering on its mandate.”