As we mark Social Development Month, the Gauteng Department of Social Development continues to educate the public on departmental services to the public.
As part of the Social Month awareness campaign, West Rand Regional Social Workers, Gloria Mazibuko, Prudence Ratau and Sibongile Dhlamini engaged the community through a community radio, Westside FM on Tuesday. They educated the listeners on available services to families.
"As a department we offer various services such as Prevention and Early Intervention Services, Parenting skills, Foster Care Placements, Family Reunification, Family Preservation, Mediation, Marriage Enrichment and Preparation Programmes. We have offices across the region and the community should feel free to access our services at no cost. Families experience difficulties in fulfilling their social roles due to the challenges they are facing".
A dysfunctional family or a disintegrated one impacts on the well-being of family members and leads to the moral decay, thus affecting the fibre of society. The biggest challenge most families are faced with is poverty and we assist with social relief" Mazibuko explained.
Her colleague, Prudence Ratau, emphasized the importance of seeking help from the department when faced with family challenges. She added that, a family dispute can disrupt the emotional stability of family members and their ability to resolve disputes. Mediation is an alternative dispute resolution that enables the parties in dispute to develop proper plans and solutions to address their differences without the involvement of the court system which is mostly adversarial in nature. The adversarial judicial system should be the last resort in resolving family disputes".
"Our services are for everyone, we do not discriminate. We achieved a lot when rendering services to our communities. Since lockdown came into effect, many homeless were reunited with their families. We have many foster children who are now graduates through the department. We preserved many families after disputes", Dlamini added.