WITHIN THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION
4.5 Professional Associations
In spite of recent opinions that supervision appeared to be unnecessary and should be separated from social work (Botha, 2000; Botha, 2001; Simpson, 2002), there are numerous pleas for the retention of supervision in social work practice. The retention of supervision was supported further by the SA Council for Social Service Professions (2002) in the Guideline Document of Service Condition and Human Resource Management in the Social Service Professions (2002). Emphasis was for departments/organisations to have a policy on supervision in place.
Within the South African context, social workers are clearly demoralised, frustrated and highly stressed (Van Rooyen, 1996; Ross, 1996; Ross, 1997). This is compounded by demands on social workers to participate meaningfully in the changing political-socio environment. Social work will therefore have to find ways and means of enhancing the standard of social work supervision and, consequently, also the standards of social work practice (Botha, 2001). According to Botha (2000) improving standards are not achieved accidentally, but have to be planned. Supervisors clearly need to develop skills in their education as regards administrative tasks, casework, group work, community work and community development.
themselves (Mazibuko, 1998). It is therefore a history one cannot simply forget, but at the same time one must not become entrapped in it.
From 1945 there were three professional associations, all of which maintained independent identities and cautious relationships with one another. The South African Black Social Workers' Association (SABSWA) was started in 1945 to act as a "mouth-piece" for black social workers, to make representations to the government or any other body on any matter concerning social welfare in black communities, and to ensure that black social workers maintain a high standard of conduct and integrity in accordance with the code of ethics (Mazibuko, 1998:31). SABSWA deleted
"Black" in the title in 1996 at the Annual General Meeting (Resolution 1/96).
The Social Workers' Association of South Africa (SWASA), on the other hand, was formed in 1951 for white social workers. Their focus was mainly on social work as a career, community work and the professional concerns of its members. SWASA deleted "White" from its title in 1979 (Hare, 1980).
The Society for Social Work (SSW) was established in 1980 with "open"
membership. Its activities focused on educational programmes and professional enrichment activities.
As previously mentioned, these associations had independent identities and cautious relationships with one another. They, for instance, invited one another to their annual general meetings, seminars and workshops, exchanged publications like newsletters and journals, and presented jOint statements on matters relating to salaries, welfare legislation and policy.
The "unity in action" strategy was applied during the 1980s and the early 1990s (Mazibuko, 1998).
In May 1989, Concerned Social Workers, the Society for Social Workers (Witwatersrand), the Johannesburg Indian Social Welfare Association (JISWA), SABSWA, the Social Worker's Forum (Cape Town), and the
Welfare Policy Committee (Durban) organised and participated in a conference: "Towards a democratic welfare system - options and strategies". This conference made a clarion call for unity within the social welfare movement. In the same year, the Society for Social Workers (Wits), SABSWA and Concerned Social Workers issued a joint statement calling upon welfare agencies to act in accordance with social work ethics by defying apartheid policies and providing non-racial services (Society for Social Workers Newsletter, 1989). Mazibuko (1998) cites The Star (26 March) and the SABSWA AGM Report (1990) in reporting that in 1990 the Welfare Policy Co-Coordinating Committee, comprising Concerned Social Workers, SABSWA and the Society for Social Workers (Wits), organised a social workers' mass protest meeting against the welfare budget and increased subscriptions to the South African Council for Social Workers at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg. The same co-ordinating Committee and JISWA organised a picket protesting against inequalities in welfare (Society for Social Workers Newsletter, 1989).
It was apparent that during the 1980s the professional associations and other social work formations engaged in collective action on issues like violence, welfare legislation, the welfare system of the country, salaries and service conditions. There was a common ethical obligation to engage in some form of activism. They dealt with issues which confronted the oppressed and other marginalised groups in society and those that affected them directly as service deliverers and trainers. These forms of action are in line with what Mullaly (1993:194-5) identifies as "sensitising the other members of the profession to the needs, problems and issues that affect each group, along with the social causes of their disadvantages and oppression and to interface with the larger socially disadvantaged populations". In other words, a professional formation is not necessarily a purely ethnocentric and self-serving entity.
According to Mazibuko (1998:33), significant observations that one can make are that all issues addressed by the various social work formations of social workers, remain legitimate and relevant current issues to date; that is, salaries, service conditions, continuing education, research, social work education, human resource development and shaping welfare policy.
Governance within social welfare dictates a need for a powerful and well- organised social work formation. Drower (1996: 13) reports that membership in these associations was voluntary and reflected the ideological positions found at various times in the broader socio-political context. According to Drower (1996: 13), "bearing In mind South African social workers' apathy and resultant non-commitment to any association, and because a number of social workers have never been able to identify with any of the existing organisations, the spectrum of social work associations has emphasised the polarisation characteristic of the South African context". To date, successful united action among social work associations has occurred only when ideological compromise has not been required.
For example, in 1983 the Liaison Committee for Professional Associations was constituted and inaugurated. One of its major goals was to achieve better salaries and service conditions for social workers (Gray, 1990).
However, this committee received lukewarm support, especially from SABSWA. At its 39th Annual General Meeting, the president of SABSWA acknowledged the Association's participation in the Liaison Committee of Professional Associations, action for salary increases and the resultant benefit to the former Association's members by way of salary increases. The President, however, also highlighted that SABSWA regarded the Liaison Committee for Professional Associations as an ad hoc Association and that SABSWA would not trade its identity for material gain and had an option to withdraw at any time (Mazibuko 1998). Unity within the profession remains an essential issue. Social reality and history demonstrate that we need one
another to confront and address such issues as salaries, service conditions, continuing education and research.
Mazibuko (1998) recommends the need to establish a national formation for social work practitioners. A professional formation can provide a wide variety of services, including bargaining for salaries and service conditions, continuing education for members, shaping and influencing social policies, and publications. A further benefit would be assisting social workers to deal with frustrations/difficulties and addressing the recent exodus of social workers from South Africa.
Interim Committee of Social Workers Associations (ICSWA)
The Interim Committee of Social Workers' Associations (ICSWA) is a group of representatives from the various professional associations working towards unifying professional associations in South Africa. The aim of ICSWA is to facilitate the development of a strong, inclusive, representative structure which can speak on behalf of all social workers. Through this body, South Africa was granted membership of the International Federation of Social Workers on 3 July 1998 at a meeting in Israel (Lombard, 2000: 136).
In conclusion, history continually dictates that there is a need for South African social workers to organise themselves under a representative national structure. The onus lies with the social work profession to decide how they want to organise themselves and become a powerful force within the welfare sector.