Social workers in the Western Cape are drowning under crushing caseloads while facing increasing violent attacks on the job, prompting urgent calls for them to be reclassified as essential workers with proper legal protections.
New figures reveal the staggering scale of the crisis facing the province’s 2,403 social workers, who handled nearly 10,000 serious cases of abuse and neglect in the 2024/2025 period alone. Each worker is managing between 60 to 120 cases, dealing with some of society’s most traumatic situations.
The sobering statistics show social workers responded to 2,871 cases of sexual abuse, 1,848 cases of physical abuse, 1,476 cases of emotional abuse, 3,389 cases of neglect, and 64 cases of child abandonment – all while lacking the essential worker protections afforded to other frontline professionals.
Even more alarming is the surge in attacks against the workers themselves. Since April 2024, more than 54 violent incidents targeting social workers have been reported in the Western Cape, highlighting the dangerous conditions they face while protecting vulnerable community members.
“These brave professionals are literally putting their lives on the line to protect our most vulnerable citizens, yet they don’t have the basic legal protections that other essential workers receive,” said Wendy Kaizer-Philander, Western Cape spokesperson on Social Development and chairperson of the provincial Standing Committee on Social Development.
Legal protection gap
Currently, social workers are not classified as essential workers under the Labour Relations Act, leaving them without priority access to safety equipment, hazard pay, or specialised legal safeguards. This gap also excludes them from emergency planning protocols that cover other frontline professionals.
Kaizer-Philander has repeatedly raised concerns about attacks on social workers, calling for such incidents to be treated as crimes against the state. Despite multiple letters to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, adequate protective measures have yet to be implemented.
“Recognising social workers as essential workers under the LRA would provide them with the legal protection and benefits they deserve,” Kaizer-Philander explained. “This includes priority access to safety equipment, hazard pay, and legal safeguards. It would also ensure that social workers are included in emergency planning, just as other frontline professionals are.”
Urgent action needed
The DA is calling on the Essential Services Committee to fast-track the reclassification process, working alongside the National Department of Social Development and the South African Council for Social Service Professions to implement the change.
The move would formally recognize what many consider obvious – that social workers perform essential services that cannot be interrupted without serious consequences for public safety and welfare.
With vulnerable children and families depending on these overworked professionals, advocates argue that providing proper protections and support is not just a worker safety issue, but a matter of public interest that affects the entire social safety net.
The call comes as social service departments nationwide grapple with staff shortages, high turnover rates, and mounting caseloads that experts warn are reaching unsustainable levels.
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