Seniors living in appalling conditions
Seniors in Karina's Place and Nothern Place old age homes see no progress and better developments.
The elderly who live in Karina’s Place and Northam Place in the South Hills approached the media to get their voices heard.
A group of senior residents, who asked not to be named, invited the COURIER team to assist them in getting their complaints attended to and taken seriously, as they struggle every single day.
These old age homes are home to women and all of them are not as lithe as they used to be 10 years ago. They find it difficult to live in conditions where things don’t work properly or not at all – many of which they have reported several time but little to no helpful action has been taken.
The geysers in one block do not work, forcing the elderly to carry buckets to the stoves and then into the bathrooms during bath time. And all the seniors complained that they do not have the strength to carry that water quickly and by the time they finish boiling the last bucket, the water in the bath is already cold.
They do not have hot water because the transformer outside exploded when it was hit by lightning last October. “One of the ladies got electrocuted trying to close that transformer during that rain. An inch closer and she could have died there. We could see the mark of that impact on her hand after the lightning hit the transformer. We need serious help here because even the grass in overgrown. A live snake was once found in the grass. And geysers have been leaking for months,” said one of the ladies.
The COURIER is investigating and communicating with the Johannesburg Housing Department and the local council about this.
An update will follow.
Please view the gallery below and read the full article in the next issue of the COURIER.
