Cape Town - The Children’s Amendment Bill hopes to see a massive reduction in the number of children in the foster are system, amid a country-wide shortage of social workers and backlogged cases.
This as the Standing Committee on Social Development was briefed by the National Social Development Department on the Children’s Amendment Bill on Wednesday.
The chairperson of the Select Committee on Health and Social Services in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Maurencia Gillion said the National Assembly had concluded its work and the Select Committee was then briefed last week by the department. Now in its sixth week cycle, the amendments to the Bill were introduced to the Provincial Parliament so that its processes could then start.
“We have extended the time frame to November 1 for the negotiation mandates and then on November 8, we want to have the final mandates from all provinces so that we can conclude the Bill from our side in the NCOP because our deadline for this Bill is November 27, when it must be finalised,” she said.
In 2017, the North Gauteng High Court ordered the Social Development Minister to come up with comprehensive legal solutions to the challenges facing the foster care system.
Luyanda Mtshotshisa from legal service in the department of Social Development said the Bill was in response to the High Court order.
There had been delays in processing the piece of legislation which included a change in administration in 2019 interrupting its development, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic which halted public participation.
The new Bill recognises that even if a child has lost one parent, the child will be regarded as an orphan for the purposes of accessing foster care services from the department.
“Some of the challenges faced from time to time is that the issue of guardianship is very expensive, because one has to apply to the High Court. The Bill introduces an introduction into the jurisdiction of the Children's Court, so that the Children's Court can also deal with such applications,” Mtshotshisa said.
These children would then be able to obtain guardians and move out of the foster care system, thus reducing the figures clogging up the system.
With around 38 000 children in the foster care system in the Western Cape, the provincial Social Development Department has 144 social workers working exclusively with foster care cases.