SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TO HOST NAMIBIAN DELEGATION ON A LEARNING VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA

•  Following the 13th Bi-National Commission (BNC) held in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2023, South Africa’s Department of Social Development will host a Namibian delegation from 4-6 November 2024 for a learning visit focused on child protection systems.
• The delegation, comprising senior officials from Namibia’s Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, the University of Namibia, and Project Hope, aims to examine South Africa’s data collection and reporting systems, particularly the Child Protection Register.
• This visit is an opportunity to strengthen bilateral cooperation in social development, address ongoing progress on a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and explore collaborative areas such as substance abuse, social services, and gender-based violence.

Following the outcomes of the 13th Bi-National Commission (BNC) between the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the Republic of Namibia, held in Windhoek, Namibia, in 2023, the Department of Social Development will host a Namibian delegation on a learning visit to South Africa from 4-6 November 2024.

The learning visit, which includes senior officials from the Namibian Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare, the University of Namibia, and Project Hope, will focus on South Africa’s child protection system, with particular interest in the role of social auxiliary workers and childcare workers.

The visiting delegation seeks to learn about South Africa’s harmonisation of data collection and reporting systems, such as the Child Protection Register.

This learning visit presents an opportunity for both delegations to consolidate and enhance bilateral cooperation in the field of social development, as well as to follow up on progress made in the finalisation of the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) since the last BNC held in 2023.

This MoU incorporates new areas of cooperation, including substance abuse, services for older persons and persons with disabilities, strengthening social service professions, poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods, child protection, trafficking in persons, and gender-based violence and femicide.

The strong diplomatic and political relations between South Africa and Namibia were forged during their common struggle against colonialism and apartheid. A key issue currently addressed in the cooperation agreement between the two countries is social security, particularly grants administration under what is known as the Walvis Bay Agreement.

As part of South Africa’s transition to freedom and democracy in 1994, both countries agreed that South Africa would continue to provide health and welfare benefits to South African citizens in Walvis Bay, which had been under apartheid South Africa’s control. In line with this agreement, the South African Social Security Agency currently pays about 532 beneficiaries of the Old Age Grant in Namibia.

During the BNC held last year, it was agreed that the Department, through SASSA, would no longer accept new social grant applications but would continue to support existing beneficiaries, who will be phased out over time through natural attrition.

The Namibian delegation’s three-day learning programme will include interactions with the South African Council for Social Services Professions (SACSSP) and a site visit to a child and youth care centre in Gauteng Province.

Members of the media are invited to attend and cover the Namibian delegation’s learning visit to South Africa, scheduled for Monday, 4 November 2024, at 09:00. The event will take place at the 134 HSRC Building, located at the corner of Pretorius and Bosman Streets in Pretoria.