THE EXECUTIVE NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE

Katinka Pieterse – Chairperson

Katinka Pieterse is the Director of Abba Specialist adoption & social services. She holds a Bachelors of Social Sciences from Unisa and has a background of generic social work, child protection, family preservation, adoption and management. Katinka has over 20 years of work experience as a social worker and worked for the Department of Justice and Social Development before. She gained valuable experience in the area of legal social work and general child protection. She has had exposure to various African and European countries child protection models and systems and also in more recent year’s exposure to specialized adoption screening and preparation programs. She is one of the founding members of the National Adoption Coalition of South Africa, and is an official spokesperson for the adoption community in SA. She currently serves as the chairperson of the National Adoption Coalition. She is also regularly participating in presentations and training in respect of child protection, national adoptions and intercountry adoptions.

Sue Krawitz – Vice Chairperson

Sue Krawitz (BA Hons Social Work University of Witwaterand 1982) is a registered social worker, specialisation in adoption. She is the Director of Impilo Child Protection and Adoption services, a Child Protection Organisation and Place of Safety, which she founded in 2003. She has worked in the field of adoption since 1989. She has experience working with birth families, adoptees and adopters, and intercountry adoptions. She has been instrumental in establishing the National Adoption Coalition, and has served on the adoption committee of SAASWIPP.

Rene Ferreira – Secretary

Rene Ferreira (BA Social Science: Rand Afrikaans University in 1991) is the Operations Director of ABBA Specialist Adoption and Social Services. She has been working as a social worker for the past 26 years specialising in adoption for more than 14 years. She has been involved with NACSA since inception in 2011, both as provincial coordinator and secretary. Her passion is community engagement through capacity building and training and she is currently registered for a Masters in Child Protection as part of this vision.

Pam Wilson – Coordinator for communications portfolio

Pamela Wilson graduated from Wits University in 1972 with a BA Social Work
(Honours) degree. Pamela joined Johannesburg Child Welfare in 1973 and remained there for the next 40 years. During that time, Pamela worked with all aspects of Child Protection but moved into the Adoption Team in 1981 where she counselled birthmothers for ten years before becoming the Adoption Supervisor in 1992.

As the Adoption Supervisor, Pamela was involved in all aspects of the adoption process from abandonment, birthmother counselling, recruitment and screening of adoptive parents, link-up and search for origins as well as developing their inter-country programme.

Pamela retired from JHB Child Welfare in August 2015 but in January 2016, Pamela took on the post of Social Work Manager at Impilo, Child Protection and Adoption Organisation. She was also one of the founding members of the National Adoption Coalition and is still an active member of the Executive Committee.

Elke Day

Elke Day received her Bachelor of Social Science in Social Work from the University of Natal in 1990 and completed her Social Work Honours equivalent at TUKS in 1999. Elke has been involved in adoption in many ways over the years from starting Botshabelo Children’s Home and facilitating adoptions, standing on the Adoption Panel of Midrand Child Welfare and working as a Statutory social worker at ABBA Adoptions. She has also adopted both a baby and an older child (both now finishing high school) and runs an Adoption Support Group. She is an accredited adoption social worker in private practice.

Anna Nala

Adoption Social Worker – Johannesburg Child Welfare.

Chriselda Bunu

Ms Bunu (BA Hons Social Work, University of Port Elizabeth, now NMU 1997) is the Adoption Supervisor at Jo’burg Child Welfare. She has been working as a social worker for 20 years and specializing in adoption for more than 13 years. She has previously worked as an Adoption Social Worker and a Practice Manager at Action for Children in the UK from 2004 to 2012. She has experience of direct work with children and young people.

Margaret Nhlanhla

A service focused social worker with nine years’ hands-on experience (six as social worker and three as auxiliary social worker). Having obtained her BA Honours in Social Work through UNISA in 2012, Margaret currently managing the Adoption Program (Adoptions and Unmarried Mother Care) at CMR Gauteng-East.

Her role involves dealing with all adoption related inquiries and orientations as well as search for origins. Pre-adoption assessments, screening, preparation workshops, counselling and after care services all fall under her remit. She gained experience in specialised screening and preparation programs and screening processes while working at ABBA Specialist Adoption and Social Services.

Her tenure at CMR Silverpark saw her rendering statutory services to protect children at risk from neglect and abuse. This included preventative intervention programs, preservation and life skills groups to address teenage pregnancy, HIV/ AIDS and domestic violence. She also coordinated annual Child Protection Week events and HIV/AIDS Campaigns.