Western Cape social workers under siege, forcing transfers and service delays

The attacks on Social Development Services are delaying visits and raising concerns about access to child protection and other services in high-risk areas.

Western Cape social development workers have fallen victim to 22 hijackings and attempted hijackings so far this financial year, as concerns mount that attacks on already stretched social workers could leave vulnerable children and families without timely help.

The Department of Social Development (DSD) has identified Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Delft and Mfuleni as hotspots for attacks on employees, while three incidents were recorded in Khayelitsha in the space of just one week.

The attacks – an increase from the 17 incidents recorded during the entire 2025/26 financial year – come amid ongoing pressure on social work services in the province.

Earlier this year, DSD acknowledged to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament that inadequate funding meant social services were not optimally resourced. The department said it had quantified the need for social service professionals in the province and submitted this to the National Department of Social Development in June.

Another parliamentary response showed that frontline DSD social workers collectively had more than 113,000 active cases recorded on its Social Work Integrated Management System.

The latest attack saw a policy developer attached to the Child Protection programme being shot at during an attempted hijacking while conducting a monitoring visit to a non-profit organisation in Khayelitsha on Monday morning.

The employee managed to escape and make her way to safety at a nearby petrol station .

Her ordeal followed two separate hijackings involving DSD employees in Khayelitsha last week.

In one incident, a Facilities Management staff member was hijacked at gunpoint in his driveway after completing a shift. In another, a social worker was hijacked while conducting a home visit.

Social Development MEC Wendy Kaizer-Philander said violence against employees carrying out essential duties should also be seen as an attack on vulnerable residents who rely on their services.

“These types of incidents must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Attacks on DSD staff should be viewed as an attack on the State as well as an attack on the vulnerable,” Kaizer-Philander said.

“The staff were engaged in duties to ensure that vulnerable clients are cared for and supported.”

DSD spokesperson Esther Lewis said repeated hijackings and attacks were already taking a significant toll on social workers and child and youth care workers.