MEC urges elders to form crime prevention committees
She said this disability day celebrations which were held in Dipaleseng local municipality gathered at the Siyathemba stadium.
As the country is celebrating disability month, the MEC for Health and Social Development, Ms Candith Mashego-Dlamini, through her outreach programme, joined hundreds of people from Dipaleseng local municipality gathered at the Siyathemba stadium to celebrate the disability day.
From her visit to the Dipaleseng Local municipality from the report brought by South African Social Services Agency(SASSA), she has learnt that out of the 2 million beneficiaries of the social grant money in South Africa, an estimated number of 3 812 people are able to get social grant in Siyathemba.
“As a department, we are here to listen to your problems, and we urge everyone who has gathered here to go and register for the grant money. People in communities should start respecting elders and all people living with disabilities and also to keep an eye to all elders in the area,” she said.
Mashego-Dlamini said statistics of rape, especially on old people, are so shocking. Another shocking revelation that has come to the attention of Mashego-Dlamini is lot of elders, especially in Gert Sibande district are utilizing condoms in a wrong way. She said she couldn’t believe it when she heard that a lot of elderly people use condoms, only to find out that they use them for healing their knees. “Since the department has received the report of this shocking habit that has developed within old people, the Minister of Health, Mr Aaron Motsoaledi has come with a decision that laboratory tests will be done to ensure that the oil that is on the condoms, surely does heal people’s knees,” she said.
Speaking to Gogo Anna Mpunza of Siyathemba, she said she was happy that the MEC has finally come to their place and seen the conditions they are living under. “We feel special and loved today, because the MEC has paid us a visit, and has also highlighted what we as elders experience daily.”
The elders of this area were showered with toiletry bags full of toiletries and the children were given school bags, and some families were given food parcels. Mashego Dlamini has urged all old people to form committees since they are the most targeted people to crime doers.
