The provincial government's social welfare system in Buffalo City is in crisis, leaving residents desperate and officials struggling to work amid toxic offices, snake infestations and a staggering shortage of social workers.
Community members told the provincial legislature on Tuesday how they were forced to navigate broken services, while social workers operated from car boots and parking lots.
While the Bhisho legislature painted a gloomy picture of the state of affairs at social development offices in the metro, it was the community members who took turns slamming the alleged dismal performance of the department in their areas.
Speaker after speaker from the 700 community members in attendance poured their hearts out in front of a full house of provincial legislators, detailing their struggles with accessing social services.
All six social development offices in East London, Qonce, Mdantsane, Zwelitsha and Dimbaza are inaccessible due to toxic fumes and snake infestations, while operations at others have been paralysed by “slow ongoing renovations”.
This situation, the legislature’s social development portfolio committee said, was a crisis and had, over the past few years, resulted in officials getting sick and working from home or under carports in their office parking lots.
This was revealed at the annual Taking the Legislature to the People programme, sitting at an East London beachfront hotel, where residents from all of BCM’s 50 wards were bussed in to participate.
On Tuesday, reports from the social development committee, chaired by ANC MPL Lindiwe Gunuza-Nkwentsha, and from the economic development, environmental affairs and tourism portfolio committee, were tabled and debated.
The legislature will be at the venue until Thursday, when other committee reports are set to be tabled.
Gunuza said employees at social development had been working under crisis conditions.
Despite the Bukiwe Fanta-led department having spent R4.3m on cleaning contaminated offices in BCM, the expenditure was a waste as toxic fumes continued, with officials suffering skin rashes and respiratory problems, according to the committee.
“All six local service offices in BCM are said to be inaccessible ... The department’s social workers currently operate from home, from Sassa shared facilities, NPO boardrooms, carports and parking areas,” Gunuza-Nkwentsha said.
The legislature also raised concerns about the critical staffing gaps, saying there were 94 vacant social worker positions, 983 vacant social auxiliary worker’ posts and 16 vacancies for supervisors.
“This causes social-worker-to-population ratios, supervisor ratios and monthly caseloads to exceed departmental norms,” Gunuza-Nkwentsha said.
The legislature then gave Fanta’s department 30 days to engage with the public works department so that “immediate alternative accommodation with adequate privacy, security and professional working conditions for social workers”, is found.
Gunuza-Nkwentsha also gave Fanta’s department 30 days to establish emergency health and safety protocols, including a comprehensive environmental health assessment of all contaminated facilities and provision of occupational health support for affected staff.
They also need to account on how the R4.3m was used.
Bongiwe Jonas, from ward 46, said it was a concern that social workers were working from the boots of their cars.
Sipho Kilana, from ward 28, lambasted the department for the shortage of social workers, drug rehab centres, and facilities to deal with autistic and disabled people.
A resident from ward 25 complained about the department’s failure to take care of child-headed households.
Fanta hailed the members of the public, “who shared their frustrations, their hopes, and most importantly, their truths”.
“The department acknowledges that office infrastructure at a number of local service offices is inadequate ... To address this, the department has begun an incremental programme to clear the backlog of office accommodation needs.
“Sites are being prioritised according to the severity of structural conditions and the availability of funds,” Fanta said.
She said alternative venues had been found to accommodate an office and vowed that by November 1, all offices would be fully accessible and operations back to normal.
Renovations at the Mdantsane and Dimbaza offices had been completed and they were ready to operate.
Reflecting on the social worker shortage, Fanta said: “Without enough social workers, our communities suffer.
“This shortage undermines our ability to respond effectively to child protection, gender-based violence, mental health crises, substance abuse and the breakdown of families.”
During our oversight, social workers broke down as they told us how they had been hijacked, robbed and threatened while on duty, trying to serve communities
In the province, 1,459 qualified social work graduates remain unemployed, with 307 in BCM alone.
“To employ all of them would require about R65m,” Fanta said.
DA MPL Marlene Ewers said, based on what the committee had seen during their September 2-5 visit, it was clear that the department had “forgotten its purpose and abandoned its mandate”.
“I am sure we will hear about plans to reopen or relocate offices. We heard those same promises as far back as 2023, when the DA first raised the issue..”
Ewers said it was a concern that more than 100 social workers in BCM had no laptops, phones, data or reliable vehicles.
“Even worse are the human stories behind this collapse.
“During our oversight, social workers broke down as they told us how they had been hijacked, robbed and threatened while on duty, trying to serve communities.”
EFF MPL and provincial secretary Simthembile Madikizela said his party had serious concerns about operations at BCM’s social development offices and also their lack of accessibility.
Daily Dispatch
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