Gauteng Social Development department has high vacancy rate of critical skills

24 March 2021

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes with great concern that the Gauteng Department of Social Development has a high vacancy rate for critical skills, despite the many unemployed graduates in the province.

This information was revealed by the Gauteng Department of Social Development’s annual report for the 2019/2020 financial year.

According to the department’s annual report, there was a vacancy rate of 50 percent for occupational therapists, 36 percent vacancy rate for psychologists and a vacancy rate of 26 percent for professional nurses.

There was also a shortage of 166 social worker and related professionals.

Failure by the department to fill these very critical and specialised posts had a severe impact on the lives of the vulnerable who could not afford private services, particularly the residents of informal settlements.  

This is especially concerning, considering these vacancies were in the financial year a month before Covid-19 hit the shores of South Africa, setting up the provincial health care system for failure. 

Furthermore, despite the high vacancy rates, it is worrying that the department reprioritized R91 million from the compensation of employees in the department’s special adjustment budget for the 2020/21 financial year, during the middle of the Covid-19 storm.

Gauteng is facing a severe shortage of social workers as the department has for several years failed to meet its employment target in this regard.

The DA calls on the Gauteng MEC for Social Development, MorakaneMosupyoe to ensure that all funded critical skills positions such as social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, and professional nurses are urgently filled.

Issued byRefiloeNt’sekhe,DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development, 24 March 2021