2025
SCK4807
EXAM PACK
2026
UNISA EXAM
, BSW4804 Oct/Nov 2025
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
U N1SA
Oct/Nov 2025
BSW4804
Social Work Management, Administration and Supervision
100 Marks
Duration: 3 Hours
The examiners:
First examiner: Dr GB Bhuda
Second examiner: Prof ML Shirindi
This paper consists of 5 pages.
Instructions for use of the Invigilator Cell phone Application
• Ensure you are connected to the internet in order to log into the Invigilator App and
scan the QR code below
• If you encounter difficulty in scanning the QR code, you can alternatively enter the
Exam Access Code below the QR code to start the invigilation
• Note that you can only scan this QR code once.
• Only scan the QR code when the assessment formally commences
• The QR code is only scannable for a limited time and it should therefore be scanned
as soon as possible to start the invigilation
• Once the QR code is scanned, ensure your media volume is turned up and place
your smartphone next to you. The Invigilator App will notify you with a notification
beep when you are required to action a request, which you should then perform
• We recommend that you keep your smartphone on charge for the duration of the
assessment
• If you only have one device, you may access your assessment in the application by
pressing the “Access Exam’ button in the top right corner of your app
• Keep the invigilator App open on your cell phone for the full duration of the
assessment. You are not allowed to minimize or leave the App
1
,Addendum A: Case study
About 150 000 people are likely to go hungry in Pietermaritzburg, due to job losses suffered as a result
of widespread violence that engulfed the city last week. The municipality said it estimated 15 000 jobs
across the city have been lost, with each job supporting as many as 10 family members. About 2 500 of
these jobs were lost in two malls, Edendale and Dambuza, that were looted and set alight.
Pietermaritzburg was one of the epicentres of last week's violent unrest, looting and arson, that has
been described by the government as an attempt to undermine democracy. "Longmarket and Church
streets have become ghost towns; there is not a single business along those two streets that survived.
We believe that about 15 000 jobs have been lost; the Edendale shopping centre alone employed 2 300
people, the Dambuza shopping centre that was less than a year old, employed another 300 people,"
said Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu-Thebolla. He said areas like Makro, Woodlands industrial park, and
many others, were damaged. "If we look at the jobs affected, you can see that thousands of people are
likely to go hungry, because one job looks after many people," said Thebolla. Chief executive of the
Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business, Melanie Veness, said the financial losses were
immense; billions of rand had been lost to opportunistic looting, wanton destruction, and pure criminality.
Excerpt from Mercury News: Hunger Could Stalk Pietermaritzburg after Job Lossesi in Wake of Mass
Riots, Looting By Thami Magubane 20 July 202 1
Suppose you are a social work manager employed by the Department of Social Development in
Pietermaritzburg. You manage 10 social workers. A month following the devastating riots and looting
explained in the newspaper article, you have noticed an increased food shortage in the region. This is
because community members are coming into your offices in numbers seeking assistance with food. This
is attributed to the overwhelming number of residents who were employed in the retail sector and lost
employment. You have also been receiving complaints from residents that numerous elderly people could
not receive their pension because they could not travel to town to collect it and as a result are living in dire
poverty. Furthermore, there are also residents who require assistance with school fees for their children,
because they can no longer afford to pay school fees. Therefore, you call a team meeting with the social
workers wherein you devise intervention strategies.
Question 1
1.1 Discuss two characteristics of human service organisations that make the social service sector
most suitable to intervene in the lives of the residents of Pietermaritzburg.
The characteristics of human service organisations according to Makondo (2002:9) include dealing directly
with people, core activities which involve interaction between staff and consumers, inability to predict the
3
, results of the service, involvement of many interested parties, staffing by professional people who belong
to organised professions and dependence on their environments. For this feedback, the characteristics of
"core activities which involve interaction between staff and consumers” and "involvement of interest
parties” are discussed.
Social work services would be the most appropriate for intervening in Pietermaritzburg, because the nature
of social work is such that practitioners interact directly, on a day-to-day basis, with their clientele because
their core activities involve interaction between staff and consumers. According to Makondo (2002:9), this
is because both the service provider and the user of the service can have a critical effect on the outcome
of the service and that the outcome of the service cannot be forecasted because the provider does not
have control of the user. Social workers can thus intervene in a variety of ways, such as facilitating the
development of community gardening projects in the affected areas. Social workers can also propose the
development of skills empowerment projects for the young people. When the proposed projects are done,
it will therefore be imperative that social workers also involve other parties which may be interested to
assist, such as other governmental entities and voluntary funders. When involving other interested parties
according to Makondo (2002:9), the social workers should be weary of the fact that they may have their
own agendas and goals and, as such, should put mechanisms in place to activate the right kind of interest
party, which in this case may be the Global Citizen Foundation and the Viva Foundation of South Africa
who can assist with donating seeds for the gardening projects. For the skills empowerment project,
different SETAs within the Department of Trade and Industry may be approached for them to come to
Pietermaritzburg to offer a variety of programmes to the youth for the purpose of skilling them, reskilling
and upskilling them.
Question 4
Discuss two principles of good governance that you will utilise as you manage the project. Indicate
with practical examples how you will apply each principle.
The principles of good governance include its role in society, strategic leadership or direction, transparency
and accountability, financial management, human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic
alliances (Rankin & Engelbrecht 2019:25). For this, feedback transparency and accountability are
discussed in relation to the case study.
According to Rankin and Engelbrecht (2019:25), transparency and accountability involve a process
wherein organisations regularly and openly convey information to the public about their mission, activities
and accomplishments and decision-making processes. The authors go on to state that information for the
organisation should be easily accessible to the public and should create external visibility, public
understanding and trust in the organisation. According to Graham, Amos and Plumtre (2003:3),
decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are accountable to the
public, as well as to institutional stakeholders, and transparency is built on the free flow of information. In
4
SCK4807
EXAM PACK
2026
UNISA EXAM
, BSW4804 Oct/Nov 2025
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
U N1SA
Oct/Nov 2025
BSW4804
Social Work Management, Administration and Supervision
100 Marks
Duration: 3 Hours
The examiners:
First examiner: Dr GB Bhuda
Second examiner: Prof ML Shirindi
This paper consists of 5 pages.
Instructions for use of the Invigilator Cell phone Application
• Ensure you are connected to the internet in order to log into the Invigilator App and
scan the QR code below
• If you encounter difficulty in scanning the QR code, you can alternatively enter the
Exam Access Code below the QR code to start the invigilation
• Note that you can only scan this QR code once.
• Only scan the QR code when the assessment formally commences
• The QR code is only scannable for a limited time and it should therefore be scanned
as soon as possible to start the invigilation
• Once the QR code is scanned, ensure your media volume is turned up and place
your smartphone next to you. The Invigilator App will notify you with a notification
beep when you are required to action a request, which you should then perform
• We recommend that you keep your smartphone on charge for the duration of the
assessment
• If you only have one device, you may access your assessment in the application by
pressing the “Access Exam’ button in the top right corner of your app
• Keep the invigilator App open on your cell phone for the full duration of the
assessment. You are not allowed to minimize or leave the App
1
,Addendum A: Case study
About 150 000 people are likely to go hungry in Pietermaritzburg, due to job losses suffered as a result
of widespread violence that engulfed the city last week. The municipality said it estimated 15 000 jobs
across the city have been lost, with each job supporting as many as 10 family members. About 2 500 of
these jobs were lost in two malls, Edendale and Dambuza, that were looted and set alight.
Pietermaritzburg was one of the epicentres of last week's violent unrest, looting and arson, that has
been described by the government as an attempt to undermine democracy. "Longmarket and Church
streets have become ghost towns; there is not a single business along those two streets that survived.
We believe that about 15 000 jobs have been lost; the Edendale shopping centre alone employed 2 300
people, the Dambuza shopping centre that was less than a year old, employed another 300 people,"
said Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu-Thebolla. He said areas like Makro, Woodlands industrial park, and
many others, were damaged. "If we look at the jobs affected, you can see that thousands of people are
likely to go hungry, because one job looks after many people," said Thebolla. Chief executive of the
Pietermaritzburg and Midlands Chamber of Business, Melanie Veness, said the financial losses were
immense; billions of rand had been lost to opportunistic looting, wanton destruction, and pure criminality.
Excerpt from Mercury News: Hunger Could Stalk Pietermaritzburg after Job Lossesi in Wake of Mass
Riots, Looting By Thami Magubane 20 July 202 1
Suppose you are a social work manager employed by the Department of Social Development in
Pietermaritzburg. You manage 10 social workers. A month following the devastating riots and looting
explained in the newspaper article, you have noticed an increased food shortage in the region. This is
because community members are coming into your offices in numbers seeking assistance with food. This
is attributed to the overwhelming number of residents who were employed in the retail sector and lost
employment. You have also been receiving complaints from residents that numerous elderly people could
not receive their pension because they could not travel to town to collect it and as a result are living in dire
poverty. Furthermore, there are also residents who require assistance with school fees for their children,
because they can no longer afford to pay school fees. Therefore, you call a team meeting with the social
workers wherein you devise intervention strategies.
Question 1
1.1 Discuss two characteristics of human service organisations that make the social service sector
most suitable to intervene in the lives of the residents of Pietermaritzburg.
The characteristics of human service organisations according to Makondo (2002:9) include dealing directly
with people, core activities which involve interaction between staff and consumers, inability to predict the
3
, results of the service, involvement of many interested parties, staffing by professional people who belong
to organised professions and dependence on their environments. For this feedback, the characteristics of
"core activities which involve interaction between staff and consumers” and "involvement of interest
parties” are discussed.
Social work services would be the most appropriate for intervening in Pietermaritzburg, because the nature
of social work is such that practitioners interact directly, on a day-to-day basis, with their clientele because
their core activities involve interaction between staff and consumers. According to Makondo (2002:9), this
is because both the service provider and the user of the service can have a critical effect on the outcome
of the service and that the outcome of the service cannot be forecasted because the provider does not
have control of the user. Social workers can thus intervene in a variety of ways, such as facilitating the
development of community gardening projects in the affected areas. Social workers can also propose the
development of skills empowerment projects for the young people. When the proposed projects are done,
it will therefore be imperative that social workers also involve other parties which may be interested to
assist, such as other governmental entities and voluntary funders. When involving other interested parties
according to Makondo (2002:9), the social workers should be weary of the fact that they may have their
own agendas and goals and, as such, should put mechanisms in place to activate the right kind of interest
party, which in this case may be the Global Citizen Foundation and the Viva Foundation of South Africa
who can assist with donating seeds for the gardening projects. For the skills empowerment project,
different SETAs within the Department of Trade and Industry may be approached for them to come to
Pietermaritzburg to offer a variety of programmes to the youth for the purpose of skilling them, reskilling
and upskilling them.
Question 4
Discuss two principles of good governance that you will utilise as you manage the project. Indicate
with practical examples how you will apply each principle.
The principles of good governance include its role in society, strategic leadership or direction, transparency
and accountability, financial management, human resources, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic
alliances (Rankin & Engelbrecht 2019:25). For this, feedback transparency and accountability are
discussed in relation to the case study.
According to Rankin and Engelbrecht (2019:25), transparency and accountability involve a process
wherein organisations regularly and openly convey information to the public about their mission, activities
and accomplishments and decision-making processes. The authors go on to state that information for the
organisation should be easily accessible to the public and should create external visibility, public
understanding and trust in the organisation. According to Graham, Amos and Plumtre (2003:3),
decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are accountable to the
public, as well as to institutional stakeholders, and transparency is built on the free flow of information. In
4
