The national Minister of Social Development will host a breakfast meeting with older persons at Mvezo location,Qunu on 16 July 2010 at 07h00. This breakfast meeting is part of a build-up towards Mandela Day on 18 July 2010.
“Older persons are our heritage, our custodians of moral fibre and as such any society can be measured by the care it provides to them and children,” said MEC Mvana. The minister, during the breakfast meeting, will be popularising the Older Persons Act (Act No. 13 of 2006) to the older persons at Mvezo. The Department of Social Development has increased the number of service centres for older persons from 171 to 204 this financial year.
This is a community based service in which elderly people receive skills, health care, nutrition, supervised exercise and generic care. Fifty (50) older persons all the same age as Madiba, will also be given two-ply blankets on the day.
In preparation for this day, the community of Mvezo, under Chief Zwelivelile Mandela, considering their levels of living, undertook a project of developing some paintings and artworks to use as a means of fundraising for the development of their community. The community has since raised R2,7 million and they are going to auction their artworks and paintings so that they can raise funds during the week and beyond for projects in the community.
There is a multi-purpose centre, in Qunu, which offers services to the people of Qunu, namely:
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home community based care
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income generation project
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active ageing projects.
Older persons remain one of the other (like children) most vulnerable groups in our society. The changing nature of society (weakened family ties, changed community structures, attitudes of communities to older persons, as well as the effects of HIV and AIDS, effects of poverty and deprivation) has negatively affected the family system, especially the extended family system in our African communities and role of older person.
In this financial year the department has intensified the monitoring of both funded residential and non-residential facilities to ensure compliance with minimum standards and transformation processes.
For more information please contact:
Gcobani Maswana
Cell: 082 821 7410
Source: Department of Social Development, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
