Dr Lucé Pretorius is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at North-West University’s Vanderbijlpark Campus. She holds a PhD in Social Work and her work focuses on client violence, workplace wellbeing, the safety of social service professionals, social work education, policy development and the digitalisation of social work practice. Her research has contributed to the development of knowledge on how South African social workers experience client violence and how policy frameworks can be strengthened to improve their protection.

Letlhogonolo Mosanya is a dedicated South African academic and registered social worker currently pursuing a PhD in Social Work at the University of the Western Cape. Her doctoral research focuses on developing guidelines for clinical interventions in South Africa, addressing the critical need for rights-based, non-judgmental, and comprehensive healthcare services for this key population. She holds a Master of Social Work from North-West University, where her dissertation on employee assistance programmes during COVID-19 was published in the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Prof. Elmien Crofford is a South African social worker and academic whose work focuses on strengthening systems intended to safeguard abused and vulnerable children. Drawing on many years of statutory child protection practice and a PhD in Social Work from North-West University, she has built a practice‑grounded research programme that examines how under‑resourced, risk‑laden workplaces affect both child protection social workers and the children they serve.

Dr Marelize Vergottini has extensive experience in various fields within social work, however, it is her 11 years of experience in the education sector that have shaped much of her recent work and research. In 2018, Dr Vergottini completed her PhD in the field of school social work. Her research has contributed greatly to the understanding of social work in educational settings, particularly in how social workers can support the holistic development of children and youth within schools. During 2022, she was employed as a Senior Lecturer at North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus.

Professor Alida Herbst is a registered social worker and currently Director of the School of Psychosocial Health. She practised for 13 years as medical social worker in 1 Military and the MediClinic Heart and Kloof hospitals where she gained expertise in the fields of narrative, trauma, grief and bereavement counselling; the psychosocial adjustment of patients with cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses; support to the families of such patients and the self-care of caregivers.

Retha Bloem is a social worker with a 25 year academic research history. As a graduate from the University of Pretoria, born in 1968, she obtained her B.SW, BA (Hons) industrial Sociology, (cum laude) Magister Atrium,(cum laude)  Masters of Social work (play therapy) (cum laude)  and Ph.D. (UP) under promotorship of Prof Rina Delport  in a period of 10 year.

I am a lecturer at the Centre for Child, Youth and Family Studies (Faculty of Health Sciences) at the North-west University.

I have obtained a BA degree in Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch in 1995.  In 1997 I have obtained a MA in Social Work (Play Therapy) at the University of Pretoria.  I have also completed my PhD in Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch in 2011.  The title of my PhD was:  Occupational stress and the handling thereof by social workers involved in intervention with sexually abused children.