The following interview is with a colleague of mine, Vuyisani Sweli, from the Department of Social Development who is a qualified Social Worker working in the Community Development Unit. He specialises as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer in a programme that feeds across the Western Cape and work together towards the development of communities.

I chose to interview him as he has a wide reach in working with communities and impacting lives of many people across the Western Cape through what he does.

What motivated you to study in this field of social work?

The social sector is a very vast field, there is a great need each and every day in every aspect for children, families, substance usage, the elderly and food security. Therefore, I chose to study in this field to work on the ground and contribute to the upliftment of communities.

How do you connect with the communities you work with?

In my scope of work I engage a lot with communities where I conduct monitoring visits at Non-Profit organisations that are contracted with our department. I am equipped to capacitate organisations, to teach them on monitoring and reporting and governance within their organisation.

What field do you specialize within Social Work?

In my current space and work I do I specialize in Monitoring and Evaluation of Non-Profit Organisations that report to our department on funding received to feed communities. I measure their outputs against their targets, perusing their evidence given, and also plotting areas that could be developmental for their organisation so that they may become, “self-reliant”, as our departments motto states.

What skills do you need to be a good social worker?

Social work is a scarce skill, and one would need to be trained and qualified as this career deals with very sensitive areas and factors that are unpredictable. The skills one would need is to be patient, know yourself as a professional, not to be overwhelmed with your emotions. Also have an open mind to be teachable at all times, so that you can obtain knowledge to apply in every different situation.

What are the highlights and challenges in your current area of work?

The highlights I would say is the impact I can see that I do and how that filters down to the beneficiaries and how it uplifts the communities, it is a joy to see how you can change and influence people’s circumstances positively, when you have the proper principles and ethics. I think the challenges for me would be the restricted nature of my role. I think if I had a bit freedom to implement the things I want to, so that I can deal more with the capacitation of organisations to uplift the communities.

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Thanks to Vuyisani Sweli for his responses and the answers which display the true values of a public servant serving the public.