Abuse of the helpless souls among us a real crying shame
A society that cannot protect its most vulnerable and helpless is not sustainable
As someone who got into journalism at the height of the war between Inkatha and the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal in the late 1980s and early 1990s, in the course of my duties I saw hundreds of badly mutilated corpses almost every week.
Over time, it seemed I’d become impervious to emotional turmoil. I was finding it difficult to cry.
Even when my father passed on I failed to cry. Some thought I was heartless. I realised I was a psychological mess.
Strangely enough, of late I have found myself crying at what people might find ridiculous.
The Girl with the Louding Voice, a novel about a Nigerian girl of 14 forced into marriage with a polygamous man in his 50s, reduced me to tears recently. Tears of despair and helplessness.
Worse was to come. The other day I watched a Netflix movie, I Care a Lot. It is about Marla Grayson, a con artist who makes a glamorous living by convincing the legal system to grant her guardianship over elders she pretends cannot take care of themselves.
She places them in an assisted living facility, where they are sedated and lose contact with the outside world.
She then sells off their homes and assets, pocketing the proceeds.
Grayson’s friend Dr Karen Amos informs her about Jennifer Peterson, a wealthy retiree they can exploit.
A judge appoints Grayson guardian after she and Amos falsely testify that Peterson suffers from dementia and confusion. Grayson moves Peterson into assisted living and gets to work selling her furniture, car and home.
The story takes an ugly, unexpected turn when Grayson ’s girlfriend Fran discovers that Jennifer Peterson’s identity was stolen from a girl who died of polio years ago. The woman who stole the identity is herself a thug linked to the Russian mafia.
I won’t spoil the movie for you, suffice to say what drove me to tears was the callous manner in which the elderly get ripped off and nobody bats an eyelid.
I was not crying for the people in the movie but I found their experiences relatable. The people in the movie could have been someone I know.
Though we don’t have the infernal system of legal guardianship in this country, we do have homes for the elderly and mentally unstable.
Every now and then we read reports of how these helpless souls get abused, and sometimes killed for the benefit of those who are supposed to look after them.
The story that comes readily to mind is that of the Life Esidimeni scandal.
In October 2015, the Gauteng department of health terminated an outsourced care contract with Life Esidimeni to save money and give effect to a policy to “deinstitutionalise” psychiatric patients.
About 1,300 patients were transferred to the care of their families, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and other hospitals.
The process was subsequently found to have been in total shambles. At least 143 people died as a result.
The scandal shone a light on a section of our society that we sometimes wish to dismiss from existence.
Every time I see an elderly person who is helpless, a neglected child, an abused woman or a mentally disturbed individual being ignored by those who are supposed to take care of him or her, I get agitated.
A society that cannot protect its most vulnerable is not sustainable.
That Netflix movie is fiction, of course. But it was a powerful reminder of the brutality that we are capable of visiting upon the most vulnerable members of our society. Let us remember to care.
I am happy I can cry again.
Let us remember to care. I am happy I can cry again