According to the Council for Social Practitioners there are over 9 000 social work graduates currently unemployed in the country.
Some qualified social workers have been forced to leave the country to look for employment as a result of the lack of work opportunities in South Africa.
Social workers are demanding equal employment opportunities and have given the presidency 72 hours to answer and come up with solutions to address the issue.
Some of their demands include permanent job placements, a R7 000 monthly stipend while still searching for jobs, putting an end to internship programs extending beyond 12 months and scrapping the 35-year age restriction for employment.
National Union Of Social Workers, representative Phakamisa Sakata says that these social workers have been unemployed for a number of years and the Department of Social Development is not being very responsive to the crisis.
“We are here to plead with Minister Zulu to address this issue.” he says.
Sagata says the department lacks ideas to come up with programmes that can create employment.
With the current social ills and hardships, the country is facing, some have expressed that there is a need to more social workers now more than ever.
Social workers are a need in South Africa, it is not just an ordinary thing.
An official from the Presidency told the protesters that their demands will be forwarded to President Cyril Ramaphosa for his urgent attention.
