17 Oct 2016

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso says her ministry has drafted an ethical code of conduct for social workers and submitted to Attorney General for scrutiny.
He said the draft will also be tabled before Cabinet on December this year as currently the Botswana Social Workers Profession Council was established without ethical code of conduct.
Kgosi Maruje III of Masunga had tabled a motion requesting government to align the profession of social workers to modern trends and best practice by introducing oath of allegiance and practicing certificate for practitioners.
He said social work was one of the delicate disciplines that work hand in hand with Dikgosi and members of community with regards to their wellbeing, be it emotional, physical or psychological to come up with interventions that may bring up social justice.
He said social work was an important discipline which has over the years been integrated with the component of community development; hence he said they should be aligned to the professional standards of today.
“Social workers of today are at risk of dealing with difficult cases that need alignment to ethical conduct,” he said.
In this regard, he said it was important that social workers should have ethical code of conduct that governs them.
He called for establishment of social workers council with requisite standards as currently there was only an association.
Kgosi Maruje III said it was important for social workers to also acquire practicing certificate that is renewable annually after review.
He said this was important because the society was becoming complex and that some cases need to be treated with due diligence and handled confidentially.
He also said the environment within which social workers operate should be improved so that it does not compromise their interventions. ENDS