Pretoria - The South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP) has urged all social workers and social auxiliary workers to renew their annual registration by 31 March.
SACSSP spokesperson, Iveda Smith warned that it was illegal for any social worker, social auxiliary worker and student social worker from the second year of study onwards to practice without firstly registering with the council.
Social workers are then required to renew their registration annually.
Ms Smith warned that names of social work practitioners could be removed from the register, followed by disciplinary action if they continue to practice without paying annual fees.
SACSSP is the statutory council mandated to regulate the social service professions.
The Professional Board for Social Work will also publish the names of those not on the register of the SACSSP in all national newspapers in order to protect communities and individuals from receiving services from persons not adhering to the council's code of conduct.
The council urged communities and employers to report social workers and social auxiliary workers who are unable to provide evidence that they are registered with the SACSSP.
Registration status can also be confirmed by contacting the head of the Registration Division of this Council.
The council has made concerted efforts to keep operational expenses under control and has not increased its fees for the 2009/2010 financial year.
Fully registered social workers registration fee is R327 while non-practicing Social Workers pre-applied and approved is R164, Social Workers registered as Adoption Specialists hold DUAL registration pay R327 for social work annual fee plus R148 for adoption specialist annual fee.
Fully registered Social Auxiliary Workers fee is R160 whilst non-practicing Social Auxiliary Workers pre-applied and approved is R80.
