No, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has not been informed of instances where cases before children’s courts could not proceed due to the social worker’s failure to comply with Regulation 56 of Regulation R261 of 1 April 2010 of the Children’s Act, Act 38 of 2005, as amended. It will therefore be appreciated if the details of these cases could be released to the Department to investigate this matter within the parameters of the Department’s mandate.
The Department further notes that Department of Social Development might be in a better position to respond to this matter since the responsibility to place advertisements in a local newspaper circulating in the area where the abandoned and/or orphaned child was found resides with them.