No end to Child Protection

Child Protection Week has come to an end (observed between 29 May to 5 June 2025 this year), but this does not mean efforts at promoting the rights of children and protecting them should stop.

I was asked by a journalist this week, what is the Western Cape Department of Social Development doing differently this year when it comes to child protection.

This question came off the back of many news reports of children’s rights being violated in the most atrocious ways. We heard of cases of young girls in Beaufort West being assaulted, a teenage girl going missing in Paarl, and babies being abandoned.

It is worrying and leaves one with a sense of dread. 

But in all these cases, there are those who step in to offer comfort and a way out of the darkness.

Social workers

The Western Cape Department of Social Development (DSD) has a statutory obligation to act on reports of child abuse or neglect cases. Social workers go out to provide psychosocial support services, such as counselling, no matter the time of day. They walk a journey with victims and their families, to ensure they find ways to deal with trauma. They do so under the pressure of high caseloads, an increasing demand for social services, the risk of verbal and physical abuse in some communities where they work, and even online abuse.

To give you an idea of how hard DSD staff work: let’s look at the 2025 Easter long weekend. DSD social workers attended to 56 cases between 18 and 21 April. These cases ranged from abandonment, abuse, trafficking, and children wandering the streets. In one instance, social workers from the Cape Winelands Overberg office drove a teenager, who’d been found hitchhiking near Worcester, all the way back to his home in the Northern Cape to be reunified with his mother! These social workers went above the call of duty to ensure this child was safe, and that authorities in that province gave the family the support it needs.

There are also 108 Designated Child Protection Organisations across the province that are supported by the department. These organisations are also obligated to render child protection services when they receive reports of abuse or neglect. They strengthen our hand as a department and government to reach more vulnerable children. 

Right now, we have 42 725 children in the foster care system. These are children who have either been placed with foster parents or are in a Cluster Foster Care Scheme, which is a system where multiple foster homes, managed by an NPO, are registered by the provincial head of social development to provide foster care for up to six children in a home environment.

So, what are we doing differently? 

For one thing we are trying to create more resilient NGOs and NPOs in the social services sector. On 6 June the department – in partnership with the Health Foundation of South Africa – launches the Cape Care Fund. The fund is an initiative established by DSD and The Health Foundation to raise funds to further support our work through credible, registered organisations with a proven track record of quality service delivery in the Western Cape’s social services sector. Through this fund, donors will be linked to vetted organisations that are doing amazing work in serving the most vulnerable but require assistance to continue with this work or enhance their efforts.

This year the department was also able to increase funding to its Child Protection and Child and Youth Care programmes by R32 million to strengthen these services. 

Furthermore, through the Social Work Integrated Management System Application (SWIMS App), the department is working to lessen the administrative burden on social workers to free up more time for therapeutic interventions. This is an app the department launched last year, in collaboration with the Department of the Premier’s Centre for e-Innovation.

On 28 May, the Western Cape Government Cabinet approved the proposal to expand the SWIMS App across the provincial government. Our focus these past few months has been to roll out SWIMS to non-government entities in the child protection space, as this is where we’ve identified the greatest need. DSD has already trained two Designated Child Protection Organisations (Stellcare and Valley Development Projects).

If SWIMS is utilised by other social service professionals in government and the NGO space, not only will staff benefit, but it will strengthen our case monitoring systems. This is important for the residents we serve. This ensures social workers can stay up to date with what interventions have been done and what is still required, as there will be more effective referral pathways between departments and other organisations. It will also mitigate the risk of cases falling through the cracks.

The department has also been busy implementing a groundbreaking training programme for staff at our Child and Youth Care Centres, which is aimed at enhancing therapeutic services for older adolescents. This initiative, in partnership with the University of Cape Town’s Alan J. Fisher Centre for Public Mental Health, seeks to improve mental health support in these facilities. As DSD’s Chief Occupational Therapist Nicholas Matyida said, “It equips our practitioners and care staff with the necessary tools to support residents in managing their emotions, making better decisions, and ultimately building brighter futures.”

This is just a snapshot of some of the ways the Western Cape Department of Social Development is trying to improve child protection services. But we cannot do it alone. We need civil society, other government departments, communities, and the private sector to work with us. 

We need people to report child abuse or neglect to the department or the SAPS, so that the child may be safeguarded. We need more people to step up and become safety and foster parents, to provide a caring and loving home for vulnerable children who need a temporary place of safety. And we need our residents to take a stand against crime that impacts the most vulnerable, particularly children.

But mostly, we need parents and guardians to take their roles seriously, and where they are struggling, I encourage them to seek support from DSD or a health facility – for the sake of the young lives in their care.

Please contact your nearest DSD local office or call the tollfree number 0800 220 250 for more information. You can also find information here: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/social-development/service/fostering-child