Child Welfare South Africa addresses issues related to affiliated organisations
Allied organisations were hosted by the Child Welfare South Africa for a discussion about distinctive forum issues.
Child Welfare South Africa (CWSA) joined by other allied organisations gathered at the Apollo Hotel in Ferndale for a purposeful meeting that detailed the issues related to Governance and Statutory on July 1.
CWSA is a non-profit organisation which oversees child protection organisations based in Randburg and affiliates with other centres in Gauteng. Their main focus is on protecting and empowering children through advocacy and lobbying, policy and legislation, developmental programmes, standardised practice and quality, and training and capacity building.
The organisation’s board chairperson, Angelique Mcadam, welcomed all affiliated organisations at the meeting and informed the members of compliance with the Department of Social Development (DSD). The governance component, led by chief social worker Stanley Makhitha, addressed compliance with DSD and policies, service level agreement, policy training and affiliation contract, as well as board member training/role and responsibilities. The statutory component led by chief social worker Itumeleng Makwela addressed NPO funding policies, as well as detailing the procedure of case referrals and lastly, she shared information on their stakeholder database as well as training.
Bongiswa Bandezi of the Department of Social Development encouraged affiliates to merge with CWSA. “As affiliates, you would not have to pay because we [Department of Social Development] pay them to come and service you.”
The director of the organisation Sasa Matsobane explained that the purpose of the forum is aimed to discuss the role of CWSA, the affiliation contract, and the affiliate’s challenges with CWSA, as well as channels of communication among the affiliates.
“Laudium office suggested that the social workers must take care of their lives as well because they go through traumatic experiences,” shared Matsobane. The chairperson of Benoni Child Welfare, Chris Olivier, mentioned they would need assistance in terms of funding, as well as safety and risk assessment when implementing removal of a child. He added, “After Covid-19 lockdown, the Forum Meeting was refreshing.” He appealed to the provincial office to regularly arrange these gatherings.
The meeting ran well with the board members and office directors from various centres who joined to identify challenges faced by their offices.
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