Dying diggers of Namaqualand need saving
| by Dr Isak Fritz, MPL – Constituency head of the DA for Namaqualand Date: 27 January 2020Release: Immediate The Democratic Alliance in the Northern Cape (DA) calls on the provincial government to promote psychosocial welfare in the Namaqua district in practice and not just through empty pledges.Our request for urgent intervention comes after the resignation of the only social worker appointed by the Northern Cape Department of Education for the district.In the previous year, the Northern Cape Department of Social Development had repeatedly praised itself for its successes in placing social work graduates. Part of this success was attributed to healthy working relationships and fruitful collaborations with other departments. We therefore see no problem why the vacancy cannot be filled with a suitably qualified candidate sooner than soon.Furthermore, with the resignation coming just one day before the official start of the 2020 academic year, the provincial government needs to realise that the geographic nature of the district combined with the prevalence of social ills makes it unrealistic to expect that only one person can provide an adequate level of care to the community.Since it covers more than 126 000 square kilometers, the district is larger than the entire Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. In fact, the Namaqua district is larger than the entire North West province and the Gauteng province together! It is practically impossible for one single person to pay sufficient attention to all of the communities spread out among this vast distance, especially when one considers the poor quality of the road infrastructure.And while the relatively small population means that the district is either overlooked or simply not prioritized by government, it has not been forgotten by the social ills which flourish in underprivileged, destitute communities.Although it is a largely rural area, Namaqua is by no means isolated from the financial pressures and particularly the decline in mining which is now characteristic of the South African economy. Retrenchments at Alexkor, the drought’s destruction of agribusiness, a general increase in unemployment rates and the insufficiency of social welfare grants contribute to rising poverty levels. Rising poverty in turn breeds social ills and creates perfect conditions for crimes committed out of economic need.We can see this in the mushrooming of illegal mining activities in Kleinzee.We also need to look no further than the struggles experienced by the Sanddrift community for another example. Land formerly owned by TransHex has been transferred to a private company using a privately owned security company in patrols. Their black helicopters swoop over the town and opens fire on people suspected of trespassing. This practice, which is nothing more than a form of hunting people who had been neither charged nor convicted of a crime, leaves schoolchildren too traumatized for their studies. But there is no social worker to counsel them through the nightmares of their daily existence.Namaqua is also not immune to the prevalence of sexual violence, rape, and sexual assault. When young children are preyed upon by older predators, counseling is necessary for their souls to heal from the harm inflicted on their bodies.The time for endless summits with catchy slogans is over. The time for the Northern Cape provincial government to act on its commitments to the children of the province is here. Media Enquiries Dr Isak Fritz, MPLConstituency head of the DA for Namaqualand083 395 2737 Tharina WhittakerResearcher071 251 5558 |
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