About 9,000 social work graduates in South Africa are unemployed due to “budget constraints”.
According to social development minister Lindiwe Zulu, there are 1,279 vacant social worker positions in the provinces.
Zulu was replying to parliamentary questions from DA MP Bridget Masango, who asked about the vacant posts for social workers in each province and how long they had been vacant.
Masango also asked why the posts were not filled and the number of unemployed social workers in the country.
According to Zulu, the longest period for vacant posts was eight years in the Free State, with 101 vacant posts.
The Eastern Cape has 151 vacant posts spanning more than five years because of a “moratorium on filling posts (2019-Sept 2022) due to significant reduction on compensation of employee budget”.
Gauteng is leading with the highest number of vacant posts at 365, followed by the North West with 178 and the Northern Cape with 158.
KwaZulu-Natal has 107 vacant posts, the Western Cape 103, Mpumalanga 72 and Limpopo 44.
Zulu said the reason for the vacancies was “budget constraints due to significant reduction in compensation of employees over the medium-term expenditure framework period”.
Masango called on Zulu to implement measures to fill the vacant positions and address shortages.
“What is particularly disturbing is 9,000 social workers remain unemployed and this number has remained unchanged since last year when a similar question was asked,” Masango said.
“The tragedy is this vast vacancy rate is to the detriment of millions of vulnerable people that are being deprived of essential services, escalating the social ills brought on by the ANC government’s continued failures. Last year, government said 5,000 social workers are needed to implement substance abuse legislation and 3,000 for the Older Person’s Act.
“This tragic state of affairs shows how little the ANC government cares about the wellbeing, lives and livelihoods of vulnerable South Africans.”
Source: TimesLIVE
