SOUTH AFRICA: Bid to restore dignity of the elderly

PRETORIA (Pretoria News), June 12, 2008: By Lesego Masemola The Pretoria Care for the Aged says about 15 cases of abuse of the elderly are reported every month while others go unnoticed because people do not know where to report. The organisation on Wednesday held an Elder Abuse Awareness Day at the Sonskyn Service Centre. According to the organisation, 85 percent of abusers are family members or persons known to the victims. At least seven females to one male between 70 and 80 years are abused every month. Abuse of the elderly includes acts that inflict emotional or mental suffering, such as ignoring them, or insulting, isolating, blackmailing, swearing or intimidating them. Attie de Jager, a social worker at the centre, said the abuse was increasingly becoming common in Pretoria and surrounding areas. Two weeks ago De Jager rescued a 77-year-old woman and a 72-year-old man from what he described as "horrible and sordid living conditions" at two separate plots in Wallmannsthal, north of Pretoria. The two elderly people have since been placed in old-age homes in Danville. "I was contacted by a church member whose church was doing some work in the area and noticed a squatter area. I found the man and the woman at two different plots in the area. The place they lived in was filthy and did not have running water or toilets. They were living in unhygienic conditions," De Jager says. He said the woman was so traumatised that she could not say how she ended up at the plot. "This indicates that she must have been isolated and mistreated for a long time. She has blocked everything else that pains her and part of her memory is lost due to the abuse. She saw nothing wrong with the place; she was grateful that she had somewhere to live," she added. According to De Jager, the two were hardly in a position to look after themselves and some of the food they ate was rotten. It was clear that they needed medical attention, but no one could assist them. The woman told De Jager that there was someone who accompanied her to Pretoria North every month to withdraw her pension grant and in return, the person provided her with accommodation in a renovated pig pen. The woman said the man kept her bank card and knew her personal identification number. The man told De Jager that he was paying R450 from his pension grant to the owner of the plot who accommodated him in a wooden shed big enough to take in a single bed. The man also had to perform some chores for the plot owner. "Elderly people are lonely and isolated, making them easy targets for ill-treatment and neglect. "They have low self-esteem caused by years of abuse that they do not recognise abuse when faced with it. They are often intimidated, afraid and vulnerable and it is easy for people to take advantage of them," said De Jager. He said the elderly were also soft targets for crime as people, whom they trusted and knew, would physically abuse them and rob them of their belongings. The centre's mission was to restore the dignity of the elderly and bring back their self-esteem. Sandra Millar, a fund-raiser at the centre, said they were in desperate need for financial assistance to help out old age homes that take of victims of abuse. "We are in need of financial assistance. We are also appealing to people to come and help out at the centre during their spare time. Elderly people are lonely and badly need good company. We also welcome any kind of donations - food, clothes and other things that could assist us. All elderly people need is to know that they are not alone; that they are loved and taken care of," Millar said. The centre has devised a hotline where members of society and the elderly can report abuses. © 2008 Pretoria News & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd.