The Social Service Professions Act (No. 110 of 1978) regulates professional practice and establishes the South African Council for Social Service Professionals (Council). This Act is outdated and needs to be replaced.
A new draft Bill, the Social Service Professions Bill of 2008, was published for comment in the Government Gazette in January 2008. The purpose of the new Bill is to “advance social justice by promoting developmental social services”. To achieve this aim, it contains six chapters that define the categories of practitioners that are to be registered, and deals with other matters such the requirements for registration, and disciplinary procedures.
A second draft of the Bill, including comments from the Council, was released in mid-2008. Concerns were raised about this version by some of the professional groups.
The latest redraft, dated November 2008, is titled the “Social Service Professions and Occupations Bill”. A number of changes have been made to this version of the Bill, including the title change.
The draft Bill needs to be sent to Cabinet before the Minister of Social Development can table it in Parliament. The legislature will invite public comment and will probably hold public hearings. This was expected to happen in 2010. However, in early 2010 the Department of Social Development announced in its Strategic Plan that the Bill is on hold until 2014 to allow for the development of a policy on social service professionals. The Bill will then be based on this policy.
For more information on the policy development process, see the Latest developments page.