Social worker tells of Covid job pressures
SOCIAL wellness has come under increasing pressure during the Covid19 lockdown and its effects are still seen in communities around Pretoria.
This is according to Takudzwa Madhina, who has been appointed at the Faerie Glen office of the Christelike Maatskaplike Raad in Pretoria East. Madhina has made history, as he is the first male ever to have been appointed to this female-dominated office.
March was National Social Work Month, and the theme this year was “The time is right for Social work”.
Madhina said the past few years were especially challenging for many people who had lost their jobs due to Covid-19. Speaking about the challenges of social work, he said poverty among people was ever-growing, which added to the workload of social workers.
“When the breadwinner in a family can no longer provide, they suffer many agonies, such as where the money will come from to pay the rent, buy food and pay school fees, just to mention a few.
“It often happens that these people become overly stressed, with the result that they face growing depression. This can result in the vulnerable people closest in the situation sometimes becoming punching bags.”
Madhina added that they had seen a sharp increase in domestic violence as a result of the pandemic. He explained that alongside the violence, comes many other social problems, such as substance abuse.
In his experience it is not just parents, but often children, especially teenagers, may reach out to some substance or other as a coping mechanism.
“But this is a cycle – stress – violence – substance abuse – violence – more stress. It is just like many other social problems, such as begging and poverty. Unless a way is found to move people out of their present situation, the next generation will also be caught in the cycle and the problems will be repeated.
“As social workers, we work within the legal framework that applies to us as a child protection agency with statutory powers. We do not see the child as a singular person. Every child should ideally be in a family unit.
“And where there is a broken family unit, or none at all, we step in to help the child, putting his safety, well-being and growth first,” Madhina explained.
He said this meant that social workers needed to reach out to the family unit. “We help where we can assist with practical help, and then address existing issues such as physical abuse, lack of emotional support, children with behavioural and learning problems. The list is endless.”
Madhina said it was good that there were events such as National Social Work Month to make people aware of the socio-economic challenges and related problems in the communities.
“The challenges we face are growing, not becoming fewer or easier to deal with.”
In explaining what a social worker needed to be capable of, Madhina said it was important to know the law, have a lot of patience and resilience and above all have compassion.
“We often face resistance when trying to intervene in a child's situation. Gated communities present particular problems, as adults refuse us entry. Then we have to get the police involved. This often delays the help for children who may need us urgently.”
Asked about other hurdles, Madhina pointed to the case loads social workers face. His colleagues all agreed that there was an overload of people in need and not enough resources. Another hopelessly inadequate resource were places of safety for both children and women, he said.
“In some instances we have no other option than to leave a child in the community – simply because no place can be found where he can be safely cared for or fostered. We do try to drop in and check on such children, but we can't always find them the second time round. Our hands are tied with such cases.
“We strive for better communities, preservation of family values and caring environments in which children can be nurtured. There is an intense need to empower caregivers in order to achieve this goal.
“But we need interdepartmental co-operation, from the highest level down to the ground. We desperately need more resources all round – and that would only address the tip of the social iceberg.”
Madhina said in the bigger picture, economic hardship was at the base of most social problems.
“As social workers we deal with the fallout. Something which is unlikely to lessen anytime soon.”
The NGO delivers social work services to more than 27 000 people each year.