Towards the reconceptualisation of social welfare in South Africa: an analysis of recent policy trends

Abstract

Nearly 20 years have elapsed since the heady days of South Africa’s first democratic elections and the publication of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), the document that was intended to chart the country’s future development (ANC, 1994:1). It was soon followed by the White Paper for Social Welfare, which would help “realise the relevant objectives” of the RDP through the use of developmental social welfare (MWPD, 1997:5,68). Developmental social work would constitute the profession’s specific contribution to the developmental approach and, ultimately, to practice (Patel, 2005:206-210)