Anti-Oppressive Perspectives on Social Work’s Responsibilities Towards Irregular Migrants in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper is centred on a critical incident involving the South African Department of Social Development (DSD) vis-à-vis a group of irregular migrant children that was intercepted in November 2017, while en route from Zimbabwe to their parents, who were awaiting them in Cape Town, South Africa. Upon this interception, a South African Children’s Court ruled that the children were in need of protection and placed them in the custody of the South African state, pending their repatriation back to Zimbabwe. Social workers employed by the DSD were instrumental in this process, in the course of which parents were denied physical access to their children. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the ethical dilemmas that arose from this case and critique the role played by the DSD and social workers in its employ, using an anti-oppressive framework. I argue that this framework provides an appropriate basis from which to explore social work’s complex role where they find themselves rendering irregular migrants voiceless, powerless, and, further exposed to interpersonal and structural violence, instead of helping to work out ways of protecting people rendered vulnerable by conditions beyond their control.