Keetmanshoop
Senior citizens at the Daan Viljoen Old Age Home at Keetmanshoop fear for their safety, saying they are constantly harassed and attacked by young men.
The elders raised their concerns during a consultative meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Gender Equality, Social Development and Family affairs on Monday.
Caretaker at the old age home Elias Forbes told the committee that although the elders are well taken of, safety remains a huge concern as some elders are terrorised and robbed of their belongings by young people.
He said the elders are living in fear, as the centre is accessible to anyone, which has led to robberies, especially on Sundays when many pensioners relax outside their rooms.
“Gangsters come in and rob the old people. They come in while we sit outside and rob us of our phones and we are too old to fight back,” Forbes said.
He said the problem has become a regular occurrence, as even small boys take chances to go into the centre to try to steal something. He added that the elders have made repeated calls to the relevant authorities to address the situation, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
The pensioners also complained of high electricity tariffs, saying they cannot afford the rates and urged local electricity distributor Selco to subsidise electricity for pensioners. They called on the government to take charge of the electricity bill at the centre, as the elders cannot afford to pay.
Jansen van Vuuren, one of the residents, said it is nice and pleasant to live at the centre – even amid security concerns – but urged government to assist senior citizens by going into an agreement with one of the big shops at the town so that elders can get up to 25 percent off their purchases, because the prices of food and other basic amenities have risen steeply in recent months.
“When the shops hear that the old age pension has been increased, they also increase their prices,” he observed.
Chairperson of the parliamentary standing committee Ida Hoffmann briefly explained that the team is in the region to consult and discuss issues concerning the improvement of old age homes and the living conditions of elderly people.
She said the aim is to monitor and assess the conditions of old age homes in the region, look at the challenges that service providers are faced with, and to see how government can step in to help. “We’re not here to judge, but to see whether we can elevate you from your current situation,” she said.
The visit follows a motion tabled in the National Assembly last year, calling for legislative and policy changes in the way old age homes are run.