Senior citizens want pension increment
Memela who is from Ward 28 under Ray Nkonyeni Municipality said the means test troubles them because there are things which are supposed to be received by the elderly but because of the test, they do not get anything.
The provincial chairperson of the Senior Citizens Forum, Dephney Memela said they want government to consider increasing pensioners’ monthly social grant.
Memela said the government must take into account that the money senior citizens get monthly does not match the current inflation rate.
The provincial chairperson was speaking during the International Day of Senior Citizens celebration hosted by the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature on Saturday last week at the Glencoe Town Hall Grounds under Umzinyathi District Municipality.
Also, Memela said that government needs to relook at the means test used by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) to determine whether or not an applicant qualifies for financial assistance in the form of a social grant.
Memela who is from Ward 28 under Ray Nkonyeni Municipality said the test troubles them because there are things which are supposed to be received by the elderly but because of the test, they do not get anything.
“Even when we are engaging with other provinces, they say we have the ability to convince government so they keep asking us to raise the issue of the means tests. We have been asking our local political leaders to consider raising this with President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu. We plead with government to relook at the means test,” she said.
The 2022 edition of International Day of Senior Citizens was held under the theme: Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World.
As part of the celebrations, Memela also attended day two of the KZN Legislature Speaker’s Social Responsibility (SSR) at Wasbank with acting speaker Hlengiwe Mavimbela.
The office of the speaker handed over umbrellas to the senior citizens who walk a distance to engage in numerous hand crafts such as woodworking, making umgeqo from ubuhlalu, amacansi, pillows and so forth.
Also, the Legislature handed over food parcels to those who were in attendance.
Memela said as senior citizens, all they ask for is to be respected by those younger than them.
“There are times where people say people do not respect us because we do not respect ourselves, but as senior citizens we know that we show respect otherwise we would have not reached this age if we did not show respect. The bible says respect the elderly, respect so that your days on earth are multiplied. Some think that because we tend to be forgetful every now and again, they assume we do not know anything, however, we are very informed about most things,” she said.
Memela further described senior citizens as encyclopedias.
“We are thankful that the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature supports us no matter our age. We hope that every senior citizens will pass whatever knowledge or skill they have to the younger generation in their respective areas, so that whatever we know does not die with us, but is passed onto the next generation,” she said.
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