Parliament, Sunday, 12 November 2023 – The Acting Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Social Development, Mr Dikgang Stock, welcomed the elderly people who came to express their views on the Older Persons Older Persons Amendment Bill at Paarl Town Hall in Paarl in the Cape Winelands District Municipality yesterday, to ensure that their views are taken into consideration when the proposed amendments are factored into the Older Parsons Act.
Mr Stock briefly explained that the principal intent of this process is to solicit the views of senior citizens of the Cape Winelands District on the social ills to which they are subjectedto and how the Bill can attend to them to alleviate their plight, improve their lives and protect their rights.
He said in essence the Bill is aimed at amending the pieces of legislation of Older Persons Act of 2006 that inadvertently render the protection, safety and health care of older persons at their homes or centres of care untenable.
These amendments seek to, among others, strengthen the protection and prevention of abuse of older persons; eliminate harmful traditional practices including witchcraft accusations against older persons; and recognise the responsibilities of older persons in passing on inter-generational knowledge and wisdom. The Bill also agitates for the provision that advocates for the removal of older persons to temporary safe care without a court order.
The committee heard that older persons in Mbekweni Township are often deprived of access to critical services and if there are any in Paarl, they are often far away from where they live. The elderly people also told the committee that they informed the Department of Social development regarding the lack of residential care facilities for older persons in thedistrict. They said most of these facilities in the district are expensive.
Participants decried the lack of a clear definition of a statutory abuse of older persons in the Bill. They said that when older persons are deprived of necessary services such as the recent delay of payment by SASSA, there is no consequence management that matchesthis transgression. This was a statutory abuse, but there’s no provision of such statutory transgressions in the Bill.
A representative from Lingelihle Old Age Home, Ashton, suggested that the Bill should consider making a provision that will elaborate on the determination of a prescribed criteria of who should form part of the governance structures of older persons forums. The representative argued that he was making this proposal because in most cases older persons are not abused by caregivers, but by boards of governance who are in charge ofthese institutions.
The committee will today conduct public hearings on the Bill in Mossel Bay at Mossel Bay Town Hall in the Garden Route District Municipality from 10:00 to 14:00
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE ACTING CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, MR DIKGANG STOCK.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson of the committee, please contact:
Name: Mr Abel Mputing
Cell: 081 705 5521
Email: amputing@parliament.gov.za
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