Actonville Child Welfare’s most pressing need is new offices

Advocating for the rights of children in a 20-foot container office with no privacy for their clients are the current conditions social workers in Kingsway have to work under.

The Kinsgway office is one of the two satellite offices of the Actonville Child and Family Welfare Society, which was established in 1980 by a group of concerned residents, professionals and business people in the community.

While the NPO assists the community through their services, which include parenting skills, teen and foster parents, investigation of child abuse and neglect and community projects, they have not been exempted from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mohamed Sirkhot, the chairperson of the organisation, said they have been unable to host their annual fundraising gala evening for the past two years and this impacted negatively on the day-to-day running costs of the society.

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“To exacerbate matters, fuel prices are constantly increasing, court visits are on the rise and unforeseen expenses add to our financial constraints,” Sirkhot said.

While the society is running fairly smoothly, their main concerns are the conditions of the three offices they use to attend to their clients.

Sirkhot explained that the Kingsway office is not conducive for the three staff members to conduct the organisation’s services effectively and finding a suitable premise remains elusive.

“Our Actonville office needs painting, curtains and security gates need fixing or replacing,” he said.

“A similar scenario exists at our Wattville office. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funds, this cannot be made a priority.”

Despite the lack of funds and the working conditions, all six social workers, three auxiliary social workers and the chief social worker are dedicated to carrying out their duties.

Chief social worker Sadia Patel said that social workers each have about 100 case files they are working on and despite the stressful nature of the job they are doing the best that they can to make a difference and save children from harmful circumstances.

The organisation assists the Wattville, Actonville, Lindelani, Tamboville, Kingsway, Apex, Mackenzie Park, Emandleni and Mtshalozi communities.

In order to continue running their services efficiently, Actonville Child and Family Welfare needs funding and support from community members and companies.

For more information on how you can assist contact the Actonville Child and Family Welfare Society on 011 421 4879, Wattville branch on 010 442 0889 or the Kingsway branch on 011 442 0891.

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