Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Alexandra Abrahams MP.
The DA will request that the Vuthlari Old Age and Disability Centre appear before the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Social Development as a matter of urgency regarding allegations of severe human rights abuses reported in the media.
According to reports, residents of the Centre are subjected to sleeping on the floor with only thin, dirty blankets to cover themselves. Residents are allegedly bathed with pine gel or Jeyes Fluid, have open sores on their bodies, and are fed only soup, spinach, cabbage, and Mageu.
There are allegations that some residents have died due to malnutrition and the unsanitary conditions at the Centre.
It seems the Centre also refused Limpopo Social Development MEC, Florence Radzilani, access when she attempted to do unannounced oversight.
It is clear that the situation needs urgent intervention and that the MEC must identify safe places where the Vuthlari residents can be moved.
The Older Persons Amendment Bill, currently with the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for public participation, proposes new provisions relating to the monitoring and evaluation of all services to older persons and for the removal of older persons to a temporary safe care without a court order, among other clauses. The new proposed insertion of Section 24A and 25B states that government must remove older persons in need of care and protection without delay and can do so without a court order.
The horrific situation at Vuthlari Old Age and Disability Centre is exactly why the legislation must be amended.
All old age residential facilities including private facilities must be registered, adhere to norms and standards, as well as be monitored and evaluated regularly to ensure compliance which clearly had not taken place at this facility.
These compliance measures align with the DA’s policy position on protecting elderly citizens. As outlined in our Social Development Policy, the DA believes that all unregulated old-age homes should be brought into the regulated space in a sustainable manner to facilitate compliance with minimum standards, such as occupational health and safety standards.
We furthermore advocate for reviewing and strengthening existing screening measures to detect elderly abuse in nursing homes to ensure their reliability.
We must act now to protect the most vulnerable members of our society. Therefore, the DA will request that the MEC account to Parliament on her interventions and the condition of the residents and will submit written parliamentary questions to determine when Vuthlari and other old age homes in Limpopo were last inspected.