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4.42 Volunteer welfare services
(1) Private welfare agencies
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(a) The Johannesburg child welfare society
It is the private welfare agency which deals with the large majority of cases - probably
. about 80% of cases dealt with by private welfare organisations. A study of its files
revealed that during 1982, the Society dealt with 66 cases of physical or sexual abuse
of children. Of these, 47 were White, 16 were Coloured and 3 were Black children.
There were slightly more males (36) than females (30) (De Vos 1991).
(b) The National Council for child and family welfare
According to De Vos (1991), although the National Council does not deal with the
practical management of abused children, it has played a leading role in the matter
of combatting and preventing child abuse in South Africa. It has done this by way of
research, - e.g. literature studies, surveys among its affiliated child welfare societies;
issuing information pamphlets; organising the first major symposium on child battering;
drawing up guidelines on the management ofchild abuse; campaigning for law reform
in respect of the management of child abuse, - e.g. with regard to making child abuse
a notifiable condition (which has now been built into the new Child Care Act of 1983),
etc.
(c) The "Christelike Maatskaplike Raad" (CMR)
According to De Vos (1991) the CMR is the family welfare organisation of the Dutch
Reformed Church. During 1982 it dealt with five abuse cases, involving ten children,
ofwhom four were male and six female. Most ofthe injuries consisted ofbruises, welts
and abrasions, resulting from assaults. The abusers were the mother, father, mother's
boyfriend and step mother. As to the outcome of cases, five of the ten children were
found to be in need of care and placed in a children's home operated by the CMR.