SWAZILAND: Elderly Made to Suffer Silently

MBABANE, Swaziland (The Swazi Observer), June 19, 2006: Swaziland's elderly citizens feel they are being abused, their plight not considered by anyone; from the Ministries of Health and Social Welfare and Enterprise and Employment as well as general members of the public. Umtfunti WemaSwati Chairperson Mkhuluza Zwane yesterday said the main form of abuse each time they are to receive their monthly social grant from the Health and Social Welfare Ministry. "This ministry is the worst when it comes to the abuse we are experiencing. They are not concerned with our health," he said. Zwane also stated that areas where they were having it tough the most were the Manzini region and Mankayane town. He said toilets are not sufficient in Manzini yet a number of the elderly were from that region. He added that they were also made to wait for more than five hours before being attended to. At times, he stated, they are forced to wait until they decide to leave without anyone attending to them. The chairperson said often they return home without even getting the grant despite that they had borrowed the bus fare, said Zwane. We are also made to relieve ourselves in the open, which is not only a health hazard to the elderly but also the Manzini city. Just imagine the whole of Manzini city having no toilets yet there are offices. Are there really no toilets or it is just sabotage to the elderly?. What we are experiencing is very painful, he stated. He said there were a number of elderly who were not being taken care of and so serious is the matter that they were even being killed. He also stated that they were also being accused of things they had not done. He made an example of an elderly woman in the Shiselweni region whom it was alleged she was a witch, yet she was not. Zwane said other elderly people were being killed by their children and immediate family members for no reason while others were made to die alone in their houses if not being burnt to ashes. We were once told the elderly will receive E200 monthly social grants but that was later reduced to E80. What can one do with that amount of money? It is very bad. We are the very people who have made the country what it is today but are being abused and not considered as human beings, said an emotional Zwane. By Faith Vilakati © The Swazi Observer All Rights Reserved.