Abstract
M.A.
The role of volunteerism in South Africa and more particularly in the welfare system tends to be underestimated. Possible reasons are that the value of volunteers is lost due to bad management and utilisation, as well as misconceptions of what “volunteerism” is and who the “volunteer” is. Another reason is that the relationship between social workers and volunteers is based on preconceived ideas and distrust. Greater awareness and broadening of the concepts “volunteerism” and “volunteer” are needed to describe the nature of volunteerism. Welfare organisations are also forced by cutbacks in state subsidies as well as having a broader client system (communities) to find more creative ways to deal with these challenges.
The transformation process regarding social work that came into being in 1994 led to the implementation of a national welfare policy in 1997. This shifted the focus to social development. On ground level the focus shifted to an integrated community development approach and intervention strategies that focus on prevention, empowerment and development to a level of self-help. The aim of this study is to explore the nature of volunteerism within the context of the new dispensation, since 1994 and develop guidelines for the establishment of a formal volunteer programme.
A qualitative approach, using an inductive strategy, was followed to achieve the aim of the study. Since 1994 the scope of literature regarding the nature of volunteer work within the context of the new dispensation in South Africa, as well as the development of a national volunteer policy and a formal volunteer programme for the welfare system seems to be non-existing. The study focuses on the social work practice as departure point in exploring the research theme. A focus group discussion, in-depth interviews and semi-structured interviews were conducted with social workers and management of welfare organisations on the West Rand and in Pretoria and also with two experts in the field of volunteerism, from Cape Town and Nelspruit. Results focused on the nature of volunteer work as part of the welfare organisations’ community development programmes and projects.
Through the interviews and the focus group discussion, intensive explorations of the respondent’s own reality regarding the subject in the social work practice was possible. The data was gathered by means of transcribed audiotapes. The researcher and a co-coder both did colour coding and through the use of a schedule, categories were created. Patterns appeared from which central themes were extracted as the result of the study. The results were compared to a relevant literature control. Connections were made between the results and the literature control by means of direct quotations of the responses in the transcripts.
Prof. J.B.S. Nel