Question NW19 to the Minister of Social Development
18 July 2019 - NW19
Masango, Ms B to ask the Minister of Social Development
(a) What number of forensic social workers are currently employed by her department in each province, (b) where are the forensic social workers based, (c) which (i) official and (ii) other languages are the forensic social workers proficient in and (d) what is the average case load that each forensic social worker has to deal with in each month?
Reply:
a) The Department of Social Development does not employ Forensic social workers, however appoints probation officers and Assistant Probation officers in terms of Probation Services Act, no,116 of 1991 and operate within the criminal justice system to provide probation services and also within child justice system in terms of Child Justice Act no,75 of 2008
b) In South Africa forensic social work is a specialist area in social work, which implies that these social workers have additional registration to the generic social work registration as regulated by the South African Council of Social Service professions. Forensic Social Workers are currently employed by the South African Police Services and linked to detective units and Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in the family advocate offices to conduct forensic services in probation and divorce cases.