Older Persons, New Bethesda
8 October 2007
Programme director
Members of Parliament
The Executive Mayor
Councillors
Our senior citizens
Government departments
Stakeholders
Community members
And everyone present
I greet you all
Today, we are witnessing the fulfilment of a promise made by our freedom
stalwarts who envisaged a country where every citizen shall be treated equally
without any discrimination. This is the day whereby we honour, love and cherish
our elderly.
We have seen our grannies and grandfathers having a fun walk/run in the
morning. I can bet with you that, a lot of you young people cannot match their
speed, pace and endurance. These great legs can tell a story of where we come
from as a country. They have seen and experienced everything. That is why we
call them custodians of our values.
In reality, many have viewed old age as a social problem where older persons
are portrayed as dependent individuals, lacking social autonomy, slow, weak,
chronically ill, neglected and a burden to the producing world when compared to
the younger generation. Social policy analysts and makers have concentrated
more on what can be termed the "burden of dependency" and as a result have
neglected the fundamental role which social policy can play in structuring the
lives of older persons.
This view has been primarily supported by social welfare policies that have
robbed the aged population the right to participate in the socio economic
programmes of governments. These policies have been based on the assumption
that society has a major responsibility of only providing basic social welfare
services to older persons. All these stereotypes have led to the creation of a
relatively passive and disenchanted sector of the population of older persons
which has painted a negative picture that has led to the marginalisation of
older persons by younger generation.
As champions of social development, we have seen a number of older persons
being physically and sexually abused, robbed and killed for their social grants
and neglected by family members. We only see our elderly persons being cleaned
properly when it is time for them to receive their pension grants and family
members act as if they take good care of them.
As government, we have realised that, participation by older persons in the
socio economic development of this country is of utmost importance. This has
led our National Assembly to pass an Act that seeks to fight for the rights of
older persons. The Act itself focuses on active participation by older persons
with regard to social transformation:
* It shifts the emphasis from institutional care to community based care in
order to ensure that an older person remains in his or her home within the
community for as long as possible.
* It provides the platform for them to participate in community life in any
position appropriate to their interests and capabilities.
* To actively participate in intergenerational programmes.
* To participate in activities that enhances their income generating
capacity.
* To live in an environment that caters for their changing capacities.
* To access opportunities that promotes their optimal level of social,
physical, mental and emotional well being. In essence, the Act seeks to
advocate for the rights of older persons to participate in developmental,
political, social, cultural and economical activities of their country and not
be regarded as mere beneficiaries. It also seeks to give them access to
knowledge, education and training.
At the same time, we view their contribution to family and community values
as vital as it cannot be measured in economic terms. With the rebuilding of our
moral fibre led by the Moral Regeneration Movement, we see older persons as key
ambassadors and role models that our young people can learn from.
In this corner of the world we celebrate our elderly as our pride, our
heritage, reservoir of our culture, values and think tanks, who have managed to
shape our destiny, reshape our social, political and economic landscape and who
continue to serve as care givers as the young people are ravaged by the HIV and
AIDS pandemic. As our senior citizens, we are still relying on you to share
your skills so that we can sustain the good work you have been doing from
generation to generation.
"Let us all build a caring society together"
I thank you.
Issued by: Department of Social Development, Eastern Cape Provincial
Government
8 October 2007
Source: Eastern Cape Provincial Government (http://www.ecpg.gov.za)
