Marking South Africa’s commemoration of National Disability Rights Awareness Month, the Free State Department of Social Development has appointed social workers living with a disability. The Free State MEC for Social Development, Mathabo Leeto, officially welcomed these practitioners at a function held at the Bloemfontein Tshireletsong Child and Youth Care Centre on Tuesday, 3 December.
They are some of the 128 social workers the department has employed on a permanent basis. The appointment of practitioners with a disability ties in with this year’s theme of “Amplifying the leadership of disabled people for an inclusive and sustainable future”. It coincided with this year’s commemoration of World Disability Day, also observed on Tuesday.
Leeto referred to th ongoing quest of the provincial department to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities through inclusive employment.
She said the new appointments improve the current rate of persons with disabilities in the provincial department’s employment from 2% to 5,3%.
“We need to commit ourself as the department to the inclusion of all people, and breaking the barriers together. We need to know people for their ability, and not remember them merely for their disabilities,” said Leeto.
“We need to create a conducive environment for people with a disability in our community, and at our workplaces because we do not know that will happen to us in the future. Remember, there are some who only later developed a disability due to accidents and injuries.
“If you deal with people’s disabilities, you must be conscious of the fact that if you create a conducive environment for them, you are also doing so for yourself, for tomorrow, if you happen to develop a disability through an accident or injury.”
The appointment has significantly decreased the number of vacant positions in the province not filled since 2017. The Free State reportedly had, at least, 101 vacant positions – and a budget cut by more than R77 million was cited as one of the main reasons the department was unable to appoint social workers.
Leeto pointed out that since 2017, there was a struggle to absorb and employ social workers to deal with a range of socioeconomic issues such as child abuse, neglect and exploitation, substance abuse, domestic and gender-based violence (GBV), and general family dysfunction.
“We hope these social workers will play a vital role in fighting social ills, promoting social justice, advocating for vulnerable populations, and providing psychosocial support to individuals, families, and communities.”
