All your life you worked hard being a parent, maybe you are now a grandparent and what do you have at the end of the month? R1 260 grant from the Government!
Yes, a percentage of children do help to look after their parents but a huge percentage don’t!
Your accommodation, if you live in old age accommodation, means between 80 and 90 per cent is taken for your board and lodging which gives you three meals and a roof over your head! It leaves you with about R126 to buy other essentials such as toiletries.
The flip side of the coin is that the homes have huge expenses to pay out including electricity, accommodation, cleaners, people who do the cooking and so their lists go on and on. What is the solution? It is time for the Government actually support the old age homes and give them some form of funding!
I’d like to thank people who work in old age homes and those who donate products to help them, but this is not the solution! The government of the day should take responsibility for their seniors!
If you need to go to a hospital, well that’s another story! State hospitals don’t always treat seniors with respect. Many people sleep on benches in hospitals so they are able to be there early the next day, with nothing offered to eat or drink, other than what groups bring to the hospitals. Previously some hospital staff stole tea and coffee and many hospitals then stopped supplying. They should rather supply coffee or tea and charge maybe R1 just to make sure the person who sleeps at the hospital can have a drink. They can’t possibly keep affording to pay for transport there and back each day and many have to walk to get there!
And then to go and get the pension is something else! Pensioners are treated badly and screamed at. There is no service and don’t even talk about compassion!
Come on South Africans, let’s make our country a better place for our seniors who are being exploited!
Sue Lubbe – Health and Human rights activist
