Pensioners of South Africa (Posa) picketed at the Sassa offices in Mitchells Plain yesterday as part of a growing campaign urging government to address the plight of senior citizens living on a monthly grant of R2 400.

Sulyman Stellenboom, founder of Posa, said the picket was intended to draw attention to seniors who are “mobilising”.

“We want to meet [President Cyril] Ramaphosa. We don’t want to meet with Mickey Mouses.”

He said handing memorandums over does not work.

“Memorandums that are handed over end up in the trash,” he said.

The pickets and meetings were planned purely to put pressure on government.

Building momentum

Stellenboom said the mobilisation grew out of a meeting held on Sunday 5 July at Cedar High School. More meetings and pickets were planned, including an advocacy meeting on 9 August at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in Athlone.

Myrtle Jack, chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Older People Forum (MPOPF), founder of God’s Angels Reaching Out and the University of the 3rd Age (U3A) seniors skills club in Mitchells Plain, said seniors had had enough.

“We have nothing left to lose but our voices, and today we are using them. Enough is enough,” she said.

Seniors’ struggle

Jack said seniors who had spent their lives working and paying taxes were now being ignored.

“We built this country with our hands. We raised our children, we paid our taxes. And now that we are old, they throw us crumbs and tell us to be quiet. We will not be quiet anymore.”

She said the grant did not cover basic needs.

“We get R2 400 while ministers drive big cars and eat with silver spoons. This is not a grant, this is an insult.”

Jack, whose husband had died, said her bond costs R2 000 a month, which her daughter helps her pay. After the bond there is nothing left for food. She spends R100 every two days on electricity and receives only nine units per purchase.

“It’s just a couple of days and there’s nothing, no money. Then I have to run to the loan sharks to borrow money and I have to pay 40 rand on a 100 rand.”

She was in arrears on her water and rates account and possibly had to sell her home. Jack said she didn’t qualify for indigent rebates because the house was registered in her daughter’s name, a decision she and her husband made so the property would transfer smoothly after their deaths.

Jack said seniors who cannot afford food struggle to take their medication.

“If there’s no food they can’t take their tablets, and they have to eat before doing so.”

Describing herself as a community worker, she said she shared whatever food she had with people in need, even when her own cupboards are nearly empty.

Apartheid legacy

Jack said low wages under apartheid made it impossible for many seniors to save for retirement.

“Working in the clothing industry one didn’t get paid much. There was hardly money to put away.”

She said the little workers could set aside went towards funeral policies, which were the only financial safety net most could afford.

Jack had a funeral policy with a payout of R20 000, but after her husband died she could no longer afford the monthly premiums of around R900. She said she had never received the payout and was seeking legal help to recover the money.

She said the government’s expectation that people retire on retirement savings was not realistic for those who had worked under apartheid conditions.

Jack said she was not speaking for herself alone. “I’m not speaking for me, I’m speaking for all the seniors all over, not only for Mitchells Plain.”

Loan sharks

Jack’s comments about loan sharks were echoed by a senior who took part in yesterday’s picket. In a video posted by Posa on their Facebook page, the senior said: “The loan sharks are eating us up and it’s not me alone. You know, every month, at Super Loans, there are about 200 pensioners standing in line.”

Retailers

Stellenboom also called for retailers to come on board. He said pensioners drew their grants at major retailers, where there are long queues every month, and most of those pensioners then do their shopping at the same store. “They are benefiting. The least they can do is give pensioners a discount.”

Warning to government

Jack also reminded government that seniors make up a large part of the voters’ roll. “If you ignore us today, remember, the seniors vote,” she said.

TygerBurger contacted and emailed national government spokesperson Sandy Godlwana. Both went unanswered by the time the story went to press.

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