adminwho have been raped by close relatives have become common.
Tales of how some children are abused when they are left in the care of extended family members while parents seek greener pastures in neighbouring countries and globally are often told.
On the other hand, neighbours have painfully watched some children from some apostolic faith sects being denied their right to access health services and die from measles every year.
Some children stay with alcoholic parents and live under unfriendly conditions but nothing visible has been done to get them out of those situations.
And when these cases are finally taken to court, not much information on the extremity of the problems is available because of the lack of social workers who are supposed to play the community watchdog role.
Instead, social workers have been reduced to toothless dogs.
Compounding such problems in both rural and urban areas is the lack of experienced social workers.
While social workers are “feared” by offenders in such developed countries as the United States and United Kingdom because of their visibility and aggressiveness, little can be said about those in Zimbabwe.
Brain drain and poor working conditions for social workers have been singled out as the main contributory factors to the situation the country is in today.
As such, the societal fabric continues to wear out while communities watch because of the lack of a pool of these important stakeholders.
It is such issues that brought together and made social workers and stakeholders agree and disagree on some issues during their annual conference last week.
The meeting was a rare opportunity to discuss how their profession can be saved and made accessible to those in need.
It was also a chance to explain some new regulations governing the profession.
Most communities, especially those in rural areas, are not aware of what social workers are and the role they play.
Council of Social Workers chairperson Mr Phillip Bohwasi described a social worker as a person who promotes the welfare of human beings and the betterment of human society through the development and systematic application of scientific knowledge of human and societal activities and social services.
He said the activities of professional social workers include performing the functions of probation officers in terms of the Children’s Protection and Adoption Act (Chapter 5:06) and any other enactment.
Mr Bohwasi lamented the shortage of resources, saying Government should take this as an issue of priority.
“In the forthcoming national budget, we expect Government to put in resources to the relevant ministry and help social workers perform their day to day duties with less hitches,” he said.
He said it was mandatory for social workers to register with the Council of Social Workers as not doing so is criminal.
“We will carry out awareness campaigns to promote the registration and awareness of the social work profession.
“The awareness campaigns will involve the mobilisation of communities and professionals to understand the need for protection from sexual abuse, neglect and exclusion,” he said.
He said not many social workers understand and know that they practice and offer their services to Government.
Mr Bohwasi said they carried out an assessment of the department of social work and the report revealed that they were ill-equipped and not available.
Where they are available, he said, the resources offered to them in terms of office space and working equipment are very scant.
“Social workers are not able to visit clients and communities. If you go to rural areas, you hardly find a social worker but you find Agritex officers, health officers and many others.
“It could be an issue of Government priorities. The social work profession is not fully recognised. Not many people recognise it and we thank Government for putting an Act which will enable our recognition.
“It is now a matter of social workers standing up and claiming that recognition,” he said.
National co-ordinator of the Victim Friendly Court Mr Idine Magonga said social workers provide counselling services to victims before, during and after trial in liaison with the police and the courts.
He said social workers were shortchanging children in Zimbabwe and are conspicuous by their absence, during and post trial periods.
“Their services, if available take a fire brigade and horch-porch approach,” he said.
Mr Magonga added that access to social worker services remains a big issue to most children and as such all pieces of legislation involving children should be codified in the long term.
A former Government social worker Mr Edgar Samkange (80) reminisced his days as a social worker back in the early 1980s.
He said they did not face much challenges and had adequate resources for their daily duties.
“We were able to do thorough investigations because we had resources. The moment you were employed by Government you were on probation until you produced a driver’s licence. You would immediately identify a vehicle according to your income bracket.
“The vehicle would be taken to CMED to check its roadworthiness and value. The moment CMED agreed the vehicle’s consistency with value and money being charged, the report was sent to headquarters. They would immediately have the keys surrendered to you and be mobile. You would thoroughly do your work,” he said.
He said today’s social workers are not registered, do not have transport and are still green. As a result, he added, social workers do shoddy jobs.
He said Government should give an opportunity to retired people like him to voluntarily assist the courts.
“Even if I am the first classical example I want to be given authority to work as a voluntary probation officer and help the courts. I have the means, I have a vehicle and maintain myself and I can do the work and better society. I am passionate about child welfare issues,” he said.
Acting Chief Magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe said the critical shortage of experienced social workers and lack of resources has had a negative impact on Zimbabwe’s judicial system.
Mr Guvamombe said life changing decisions made by magistrates regarding issues like the custody of children, those in need of care and children in conflict with the law among others are being done without expert advice of probation and social officers.
“There is high brain drain in the social work field in Government departments. For reasons that are obvious many social work practitioners tend to work in Government in order to gain experience and thereafter, they move to the so-called greener pastures. This has caused a serious shortage of social workers in all the districts at the disposal of our courts,” he said.
Mr Guvamombe explained that the acute lack of material resources for their day to day duties has forced courts to proceed without reports and in some cases relying on reports that are not properly done.
“Social workers are required to visit homesteads, schools and families of people whose matters they have been requested to make reports on, but do not have transport to make such necessary and critical visitations as part of their investigations.
“Social workers invite the parties concerned to visit their offices most of whom will not be cooperative as they wait to get transport to do the visitations. This may even take up to a year or they just produce the results without carrying out such important critical investigations.”
Mr Guvamombe added that because of the brain drain, probation officers are not experienced enough to carry out the critical mandate as required by the law.
He bemoaned the lack of professionalism by some experienced social workers who adopt a cursory attitude towards work.
“A look at the work of that officer will reflect an unmotivated professional with no care at all to the implications of the shoddy work he or she would have done. These are the bad apples that should be sanctioned by
the code of ethics of the profession,” he added.
Labour and Social Services Minister Paurina Mpariwa emphasized the need for all employers to hire registered social workers.
She said registration of social workers is meant to ensure that clients receive quality services from practitioners with a credible background and training.
“Employers of social workers should demand not only the registration certificate but also an up to date practicing certificate, which is issued annually to ensure that those who commit offences against the profession do not continue practicing in Zimbabwe.”
She said the brain drain and the freezing of posts in the public service have resulted in inadequate levels of staffing at some district stations.
“It is therefore important that the issue of appointing registered social workers who are not public officers to perform duties of probation officers in terms of Section 46 of the Children’s Act (Chapter 5:06) be finalized.
“The issue of probation officers is critical in the juvenile justice delivery system that needs an active presence of social workers who should protect vulnerable children,” she added.
Deputy Attorney General Advocate Prince Machaya in his analysis of the legal framework guiding social work practice in Zimbabwe said it is a criminal offence for unregistered social workers to operate.
He said social workers should take advantage of the Social Workers Act (chapter 27:21) which aims to establish a council of social workers and to provide for its functions; to provide for the registration of social workers and the regulation of the practice of social work.
“It is important to note that prior to the enactment of the Act, the practice of social work was not regulated or governed by legislation in Zimbabwe.
“Social workers were, consequently, free to set themselves up in practice without restriction. The other extreme was that anyone, regardless of qualification, could engage in the practice of social work without penalty,” he said.
Online Reporter