PLIGHT OF THE ELDERLY

GOVERNMENT deserves praise for making sure that, despite the economic crisis; the elderly do get their grants. As small as it is, it would have been disastrous if they were not paid. We have read of families that are now dependant on the grants for their survival because the country has no social grants that would take care of those in dire need. One is inclined to think of the elderly who live alone and depend on the elderly grant for everything.

The grant alone, however, will not save the elderly if government fails to provide them with the other social services. Our disastrous health system immediately comes to mind. Most of the elderly are always in pain and need medication and drugs. When government fails to provide such in our hospitals, how will the elderly be able to deal with their pain? I am sure some of them contributed to the economy of this country and deserve to be properly cared for. During their time they never ran down the economy and hospitals always had drugs and the necessary tools needed for health services. They, therefore, do not deserve to suffer for the wrong decisions of their predecessors as they are already vulnerable. The untruths being told by those in government that there is no lack of drugs in hospitals will never solve the problem. A majority of the elderly are suffering and cannot afford to source drugs from private pharmacies.

Even if they would risk using their little grant to get the drugs, how will they get to the pharmacies as most of them are in towns? For the elderly travelling is a challenge and it will take time for them to reach the places where they can access transport to town. If they happen to reach the bus station on time, our transport system never caters for the elderly and government is ignoring that. The elderly also have a right to move from one place to another and government must assist them to enjoy that right. If you have ever seen an old person trying to get into a bus, you will attest to the struggle that it is for them. The steps in the bus are too high for them and even young physically challenged people struggle getting into a bus.

On the other hand kombis are always rushing for customers and do not want to be delayed by the slow elderly who will also need care once they have boarded. With no laws circumventing such treatment, the elderly are just at the mercy of those with a good heart.

This then violates their dignity.
With their already fragile bodies, the elderly need to be treated with care but they do not get that care in public transport vehicles. Our roads are in bad shape and the public transport is always fast to make business. In rushing for customers, kombi drivers drive fast which the elderly do not like.

While driving fast in bad roads, the ride is not smooth, especially along gravel roads. The bodies of the elderly, which are always aching, will be worse by the time they reach where they would get medication all because government is failing to provide social services. Instead of buying medication or drugs for what the elderly had come for, he or she will now have to try buying drugs to deal with the pain of travelling badly.
Despite all these hardships, government sometimes feels it is not hard enough and it adds more problems for the elderly. Certain decisions taken by government and its parastatals are causing more problems for the elderly. I am thinking of the pictures I saw in newspapers when the exportation of mealie-meal was stopped. The elderly who were photographed stating their plight were a sore sight. I do not think they deserve the trauma they are subjected to by government and its parastatals as a result of decisions taken by their children in office.

As stated earlier there are good things that government is doing but they are not enough. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister, where issues of the elderly are dealt with, should do more. I believe that this is the office that should be advocating for laws that will make the lives of the elderly better. The office should not be concentrating on giving handouts as we have organisations like Philani doing that but should be advocating for laws that will make lives of the elderly better. To me the office is not doing enough to solve the plight of the elderly and the elderly deserve better than what government is currently doing.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: