Give senior citizens the dignity they deserve
IN TWO recent reports, a bleak picture was painted of the social status of our country’s senior citizens.
As we move into Older Persons Week, we must cast a critical eye over this desperate scene and begin taking steps towards protecting and supporting some of our most vulnerable citizens. Our parents and grandparents have been our enablers over the years and it’s time to give back to the hands that fed us.
According to the Poverty Trends Report, it was revealed that 44% of South Africans over 65 were living in poverty in 2015.
The report also showed that more than half of the population is living below the poverty line.
While programmes are quite rightly in place to combat the scourge of poverty among younger citizens, older citizens are still being left out in the cold.
This isn’t to say that institutions have entirely forgotten elderly South Africans. According to the Social Profile of Older Persons report by Stats SA, “over 3.1 million persons aged 60 years and older were recipients of an old-age grant in 2015 compared with 2.7 million in 2011”.
But social grants for older persons, a mere R1 700 a month, fall far short of their needs and help little in preserving their dignity. Many beneficiaries are also forced to stretch these meagre grants to support entire families.
Thankfully, organisations and individuals have stepped up to lend muchneeded helping hands.
The Relate Trust, a 100% not-forprofit social enterprise, works closely with social development programmes such as those offered by Ikamva Labantu. For 30 years, Ikamva Labantu has been improving lives through a seniors programme in Cape Town’s townships and rural communities.
An example of this vital support can be seen in Nyanga. Along a small, unassuming road rests Noluthando 1 community hall. Within this sanctuary, 20 senior citizens, aged 60 to 90-plus, can be found sitting and chatting noisily at tables, threading colourful beads on to strings. Five metres of each beaded string is then tightly coiled around a plastic holder and packed into a box for delivery. They are providing a vital service with enriching purpose, by threading beautiful handmade bracelets for the Relate Trust.
These bracelets are then sold worldwide to make a difference and change lives, with more than 60% of the revenue being channelled towards charities and social upliftment initiatives. Part of the proceeds from the sale of Relate bracelets gets paid to the elderly who make them. The extra income that these gogos and tatas earn is critical to their livelihoods, independence and dignity. But it’s not the income alone that enables greater peace of mind. It’s also the security sharing in a common purpose and having the opportunity to be recognised as contributing members of a community.
“Within the Western Cape alone, we assist 2 000 elder persons through senior clubs and home-based care… With so much need in our communities, seniors are often last in the queue,” says Ikamva Labantu’s Lulama Sigasana.
I urge every enabled and employed person to buy a bracelet because it’s up to us to help restore dignity to this overlooked generation. Lauren Gillis is founder of the Relate Trust.