Re-thinking the city’s senior citizens party

EDITOR – As another year ends, the annual city council-sponsored senior citizens’ parties are being held across all the wards in the Metro.

Once again the success of those functions has depended on the caterers and the facilities at the respective venues.

But that said, the costs involved and the extent to which the growing numbers of needy senior citizens actually benefit, needs to be re-evaluated.

The City spent R14 million this year on those functions. Spread over 103 wards with 600 tickets available per ward, it meant 61,800 people could benefit, at a cost of R226 per person.

Yet if the value of the hamper and the lunch is added up, it does not total R226. The reason is that there are overhead costs such as the hire of venues, entertainment charges and so on.

A more cost-effective way would be to issue vouchers to the value of R150 each. That would enable 93,300 senior citizens to benefit from the R14-million as opposed to the current 61,800. Using a system similar to the paying of pensions, senior citizens could obtain their vouchers at designated stores and purchase whatever goods they desired in their own time and at their own convenience.

Such a system would also eliminate the undignified scramble for tickets which has become a feature of the senior citizen functions. It would also put a stop to the exploitation of the council’s generosity by under-age persons and the fronting that goes on ostensibly on behalf of the housebound or the bed-ridden.