Previous governmental policies in South Africa created a situation where institutional poverty fostered inequality and divisions on a racial, gender and class levels. The author examines the context of social work practice in this country with this historical legacy in mind. He points out that previous social work roles were compromised by the fact that social wolkers were forced to operate within this inequitable system and assist people in adapting to the status quo. Following the recent changes new roles are called for under the Reconstruction and Development Programme. The paper traces the context of social wolk practice in South Africa and the contradictions faced by social workers between the service function and the social control function. It outlines a mtionale for a social development curriculum in a country that seeks to redress the economic and political injustices of the past
Read
