‘A protection order doesn’t play!’
Police advise residents to report elder abuse
There is help: just ask. That was the main message of the day for around 160 older residents of Ekuphumleni who gathered in the Kenton Town Hall on Thursday February 29. The initiative was organised by Siyakha Victim Support Centre co-ordinator Mike Konaha.
Unemployment, alcohol abuse and the drug trade have wreaked havoc with Ndlambe’s social fabric and it is the community’s most vulnerable who bear the brunt of it: children, and the elderly, Konaha said.
“We wanted to get the message across that they are not alone there is help available.”
Ndlambe Victim Empowerment Forum chair Sergeant Vunyelwa Titi and Ndlambe Local Drug Action Forum chair Warrant Officer Phakamile Ngxongo, both of the SAPS in Alexandria, Kentonon-Sea community policing officer Sergeant Thulani Thole, station commander Captain Tommie Parkinson and social worker Nomaxabiso Sojola were there to explain what help is available for the elderly, and how to access it.
Supporting the event and stepping in to assist with its organisation were Child Welfare Kentonon-Sea & Bushmans River board members Rowene Johnston and Sue Muirhead.
“The main message was that if they are abused by their children or grandchildren (or anyone else), there is help for them,” Konaha said.
Often older people are reluctant to go to the police because once they’ve opened a case, they have to attend successive court appearances in cases that have been known to take as long as three years to reach a conclusion.
“It takes time and resources,” Konaha said. “The old people feel like they have to wait forever to get help.”
As the system stands, the cases of people who live in the Kenton area are heard in Port Alfred.
Marselle residents must travel to the court in Alexandria.
“The police will assist you with transport to get to court,” the gathering was told.
The police can also help a victim apply for a protection order.
“That way, you only go to court once, on the final date,” Konaha said.
“And a protection order doesn’t play it works!”
Many elderly people are the ones looking after the children in the family, their grandchildren.
“But then on social grant payday, the mother doesn’t come home,” Konaha said.
Instead of giving that grant money to the grandparents to use to pay for their children’s expenses, they spend it on drink or drugs
Konaha said that the Siyakha Victim Support Centre could help get child support grants paid directly to those grandparents.
The morning ended with a delicious meal cooked by Fundiswa Ngova and Bulelwa Sonanzi.
Siyakha Victim Support Centre is an NGO that depends on donations.
It operates from the premises of the Kenton-onSea police station and can be accessed through the community service centre.