Old age homes on their knees
● A subsidy that has not increased in a decade and rising costs stretch state-funded Bay care facilities to breaking point
Nelson Mandela Bay’s 10 statefunded old age homes are on their knees as a meagre subsidy and the escalating cost of food and other basics create a perfect storm.
After almost a decade of receiving the same R2,000 subsidy per resident, the old age homes are feeling the pinch, with at least two being forced to implement shorter hours for staff and fearing that they might have to close down.
Consequently, dozens of elderly residents could be left with no place to stay, with many of them bereft of family or any other form of support.
According to the department of social development, it has been unable to increase the subsidies of the 444 beneficiaries in the 10 facilities in the Bay due to budget constraints.
Gelvan Park Frail Aged Home board chair Gishma Johnson said the rising food prices had forced the board to raise its residents’ boarding fees a year ago.
“But this did not yield the desired results as more than 80% of the residents are reliant on a state pension, with no family members to help foot the bill,” she said.
Johnson said that according to Stats SA, the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages in SA shot up 13.6% year on year in February this year, the most since April 2009.
The prices of bread and cereals rose 20.5%, oils and fats 16.7% and vegetables 15.7%.
“Yet we are expected to make ends meet with the same income.
“The subsidy of R2,000 per qualifying resident has not increased in almost 10 years,” she said.
“The subsidy and resident boarding fees amount to an income of about R4,000 per person and the cost to accommodate one person is roughly R6,500.”
She said frail older people needed not only accommodation and meals, but also palliative care and 24-hour nursing services.
“Our situation is dire. Soon we will have to shut our doors.”
Johnson said the Gelvan Park Frail Aged Home received tremendous support from the community, but it was not sustainable.
“Besides donations, we have been surviving on goodwill loans where individuals, companies or organisations lend us money with no interest charged.
“But that can’t go on. “Usually, government-funded non-profit organisations wait for four months into the
new financial year to be paid.
“But in March our budgets are already depleted.
“How are we supposed to survive for the next four months?
“We need to buy supplies and to pay salaries.”
She said their three biggest expenses were salaries, groceries and disposable nappies.
Malabar Home for the Aged chair Mogan Segadavan said the situation was bleak at such homes across the metro.
“State-subsidised non-profit institutions that care for the frail and aged are on their knees and residents face an uncertain future as these facilities could be closed down.”
He said many of their residents had no family.
“That is why we are battling so hard to keep our home open. Where would our people go?”
He said when the department set its subsidy at R2,000 a resident in 2013, the price of SPAR-branded milk was R46.99 a case, a 2l bottle of cooking oil was R29.99, 2.5kg sugar was R21.49 and 2kg rice was R14.99.
“Today, the same items at SPAR cost R94.99, R64.99, R44.99 and R33.99.
“Yet the department of social development subsidy has not increased by a cent over the same period.
“We have an operating deficit of about R40,000 a month.”
He said the minimum wage, which came into effect on March 1, had worsened the situation.
“It increases our wage bill by R50,000 and we don’t have the money to pay it.
“So I asked our staff to reduce their work hours by three hours every second day for four months.
“They refused and took the matter to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration).
“We’re expecting an arbitration ruling on April 17.
“Linked to this situation, the Malabar Home for the Aged has been forced to consider retrenchment and we have issued a Section 189 [notice].”
Another elderly care NPO representative, who asked not to be named, said the R2,000 subsidy was in fact only about half that as it was not offered for every resident in their care.
“The department applies various criteria, including if the person receives other income of any kind, and if they do then the subsidy falls away.
“So the home ends up with subsidies for only half the elderly in its care, so on average R1,000 a resident.
“It’s a disgrace.”
He said the other problem was that the department stipulated how the money could be spent and policed this strictly.
“So, for categories like nutrition and nursing it is not nearly enough and we get nothing for wages.
“At the same time, they insist that we spend a certain percentage of the money on recreation.
“If the allocation criteria was not there, we could at least spend left-over money on basic needs that we identify.”
He said to make up the average monthly shortfall of R4,200 a resident, besides holding fundraising events, the centre was constantly looking at ways to reduce its costs, including by installing rainwater harvesting tanks and solar heating and repairing wheelchairs and other equipment.
“We have people coming to our gate on a daily basis saying ‘please help’ and we have to turn them away.
“The backdrop to this is SAs ’ economic decline and family disintegration.
“There is nowhere for these people to go.”
Social development department spokesperson Busisiwe Jemsana-Mantashe said the department spent R36,709,200 annually subsidising 42 privately owned old age homes accommodating 1,485 residents across the Eastern Cape.
“Ten of these facilities, with 444 beneficiaries, are based in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro.”
She said the old age homes were autonomous facilities that were expected to operate independently when they were established.
“However, the department has taken a decision to provide a subsidy as a form of financial support.”
She said most of the beneficiaries were elderly people who received SA Social Security Agency grants.
“The department has been faced with a depleting budget, and that makes it difficult to meet the demands of government-subsidised residential facilities to allow them to keep pace with economic escalation costs.
“It is for this reason [budgetary constraints] that the unit cost per beneficiary has not been increased from R2,000.”