Frustrated residents and staff at Algoa Bay Council for the Aged (ABCA) at the Buffelsfontein Retirement Village in Charlo, embarked on a peaceful protest on October 1, having not received their monthly subsidy from the Department of Social Development for six months.
According to CEO of ABCA, Maureen Andreka, they last received the subsidy payment in March and in May, when a notification was sent to NPOs from the Department of Social Development indicating that they will not be funding any community services for older persons in the Eastern Cape during the six months of lockdown.
In addition, ABCA has not received any personal protective equipment (PPE) from the Department of Social Development.
“The residents and staff then decided to embark on a peaceful protest on October 1, which is also known as International Day of Older Persons, to highlight one of the plights that older persons have been subjected to in the Eastern Cape,” said Andreka.
She said, during lockdown, their staff was able to obtain permits to provide food to the elderly.
Since April, ABCA has been funding their various services, purchasing PPE and providing meals from their own reserve. ABCA has also been fortunate to receive donations from local businesses, individuals, groups, and churches.
“We have received a great amount of support from the public, but we would have expected the Department of Social Development, as the champion of older persons, to provide,” said Andreka.
“I am severely disappointed in the attitude of the department. The lack of funding has resulted in quite a bit of anxiety because it is money that we are dependent on and it is a lot for us to generate ourselves.”
During the past six months, Andreka said ABCA has gone to every measure possible to continue service provision for their residents.
“Family members were prevented from visiting, so who would care, cook and shop for them but our ABCA staff? We could just not see ourselves neglecting our residents,” said Andreka.
Marie Voges, a resident at Algoa Bay Council for the Aged in Buffelsfontein said, it was a disgrace that the Department of Social Development was not paying their subsidies.
“If the Department of Social Development’s systems go down, it is not to say that other organisations’ systems go down as well. I am very disgusted and disappointed that our government is not looking after NGOs and has not been providing subsidies for the past six months,” said Voges.
She further said the cut in subsidies had been a major blow for NGOs and she therefore hoped their protest action would encourage the government to pay the subsidies immediately.
“Despite the lack of funding from the department, I am thankful for the staff for providing meals to the residents and to the public for their donations,” Voges.
According to Eastern Cape Department of Social Development spokesperson, Mzukisi Solani, there are two forms of centres that are aimed at the improved welfare of the elderly people which include the residential old-age homes and service centres for the aged.
He further said the service centres in question are not residential, but centres the elderly attended daily to receive recreational activities and nutritious meals, which the Department of Social Development subsidised.
“Due to the strict lockdown regulations, the elderly people were expected to be at home and the centres were also expected to be closed due to lockdown regulations,” said Solani.
“The subsidies that were meant for the activities listed above were redirected for the COVID-19 pandemic demands as every department in government was expected to contribute.
“Additionally, the government increased the monthly social grants for the elderly to cushion them while they were at home.”
Solani said the NPOs did not approach the department to inform them that they would be rendering services during lockdown.
“The department does all it can to fulfil its constitutional mandate in subsidising as many NPOs as possible in the province.”
“Therefore, we would have wanted to increase funding to as many organisations as possible, but it is a daily struggle due to budget constraints,” Solani said.
