THE NEW WORKER

We arrived at Dukathole to find about 34 pensioners waiting for us. When we arrived, they were happy to see us but what we saw on their faces was also fear.

In Dukathole, life is terrible for pensioners. It is sad and painful what the grannies are going through. They get robbed, raped and even killed when going to the clinic. They even get robbed in the middle of the day at gunpoint and the police do not help.

Even their community does not protect them either inside or outside their centre. Girls are raped and killed and grannies have to walk under a very dangerous bridge to get to the centre.

Some streets are filled with pools of dirty water and in other places, they have not had electricity for eight years. Many people, even women, drink heavily. They are always afraid on weekends because of the horrible crimes that take place.

The grannies formed their own organization in 2016 with an executive team of five elders. Some containers were donated that they set up as their centre. They managed to get funds for regular groceries and were also allocated an auxiliary worker by the Department of Social Development.

However, when the auxiliary worker left, a new auxiliary worker arrived and took over. She brought in an NGO from Katlehong run by a woman who was not from the area, who allegedly took control of the sponsorship money.

The grannies said that everything was taken away from them. Even the furniture that they had in the centre was taken by the lady from Katlehong.

Makwena has been a Dukathole Community Development Worker since 2008. She told the Simunye Workers' Forum media activists that by October 2021, the NGO refused to bring the groceries.

“The NGO came instead with porridge and chicken feet that they had cooked at Katlehong. We don't know what time it was cooked, we don't know what happened to it before it arrived here. The grannies never allowed that because they have many illnesses and can't eat just anything that might make them ill”, she said.

The NGO then refused to provide any food or groceries to the pensioners, even though it had the funding for this. Instead, they said they would give the food away in the community. Makwena then said she would mobilise the children of the grannies to protest. The NGO then applied for a protection order against Mokwena. Court cases went on until 2023, but the grannies supported their CDW and opened their own case against the NGO for misusing their funds.

“After we won the case in 2023 we never saw that NGO again. We tried to call the Department of Social Development and we went to their offices but they chased the grannies away. We don't know what happened to the funds” said Makwena.

Makwena was then told by the government to distance herself from helping the grannies but she refused. She has continued, with the grannies, to keep asking what has happened to their funding, even asking for answers from the MEC. They are now planning to approach the Gauteng Premier.

The grannies have now lost hope in the government because they feel like it doesn’t care about them or their organisation. Even after all the court cases, they still don’t have their organisation’s funds back. They only rely on Interwaste, a company that provides a healthy meal on Wednesday and Friday.

Vuyiswa is the Community Support Programme worker for the centre. She welcomed us and explained that the grannies were looking a little afraid because they had been betrayed by people before.

“These grannies have broken hearts and they face challenges even at home”, she said.

The grannies told the SWF media activists that many different organisations have visited these elders over the years and promised to help, but then never came back.

One of the elders is nearly 70 years old and has no home. She sleeps in a public building. She once owned a stand in Pretoria North but her son sold it. She is traumatized by the struggles and poverty that the community of Dukathole are facing. Even children who passed matric did not get NSFAS to go to university so they ended up taking drugs. The Ekurhuleni municipality turned a blind eye to the Dukathole pensioners.

Gogo Zikhona is 63 years old. She was told by the nurses at the centre that her health is in danger. She had high blood pressure, diabetes and shortness of breath. She told the SWF media team that it is a challenge for the older people to get to the clinic as it is too far and they are robbed and raped on their way.

“This organization became a home to me because I eat here, do my exercise here and meet with others here”, she added.

The pensioners told us they are afraid of being killed. They feel hopeless now - they are really traumatized and you can see that they really need counselling.

A lack of information makes things very difficult for these elders, and that is why things are falling apart. To help them cope, they have a pastor who helps them spiritually, giving them hope to carry on.

This pastor told us: “there is no light for the grannies here and they need help, to get connected to a non-profit organization that can help them”. He himself was robbed at 10am when he was on his way to the centre.

What we found was that these elderly people are even afraid to stay at home because of the number of break-ins that happen because of taverns that have been built too close to the homes. People are killing each other with knives, the elders said. The pensioners in Dukathole say they are even afraid to report any criminal to the police because the police tell the perpetrators who phoned them. At other times, the police do not respond at all.

There are also a few men at the centre. Tatamkhulu Jacob is 62 years old and comes to improve his health and take part in exercise. He says it has helped him a lot as he now feels well and fit. The challenge he faces is that he stays in an informal settlement in Dukathole, in Extension Five with his wife and children.

His 22 year old daughter passed matric four years ago but did not receive financial aid to go to university and is now sitting at home. “It worries me because she is ageing. She might end up being like me because I am just a father who feels that I failed them, because I couldn’t build a home for them” said Jacob.

He adds that his wife worked in a kitchen but was fired because her boss tried to rape her at work. She escaped and reported him to the police but they did nothing, and the employer then unfairly dismissed her.

Gogo Thandi said “we are suffering from hunger because we have one source of income and that is a social grant. With that grant money, we have to support our children and grandchildren. An 83 year old Gogo was recently raped by a 21 year old young man. When Gogo tried to report the crime to the police, she was threatened by the family of that rapist. People here are murdered like chickens”.

Gogo Nolusapho said she blamed the Ekurhuleni municipality for not building recreational facilities like parks and playgrounds. Children and grandchildren have nothing to do and have started taking drugs, and abuse their grandparents, taking their pension money. “We don’t feel safe in our own home” she said. Gogo Wendy also spoke out about the problems that young people in Dukathole face, saying “our children go to taverns and drink too much. Some of them cause trouble when they come home and others don’t come home because they are killed on the way”.

The grannies also reported that a child was late for school and was turned away at the gate, only to be raped and killed on her way back home.

“We need food donations because we are dying of hunger” she added. Vuyiswa added that when food is served at the centre, the grannies don’t eat but take the food home for their grandchildren.

“Life is so tough that many grannies in Dukathole have died heartbroken”, Vuyiswa said.

These pensioners experience problems with Home Affairs too. Gogo Ntombi was born in 1955 but the Home Affairs robbed her for 10 years by giving her an ID that said she was born in 1965. So she has been unable since 2015 to get a pension. “Nobody can provide me with money for rent and food. We really need help” she said.

However, the grannies were full of praise for Vuyiswa, Mokwena and a young man called Alfred from Patience Fitness who teaches them exercise routines.

"I train them on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and we have an upcoming event. We have elderly people suffering from cramps who are helped by exercise. A lot of grannies' health are improving a lot. They are here Monday to Friday doing activities and they really enjoy this centre," said Alfred.

There is also a small vegetable garden. Gogo Namhla said she likes the exercise classes and the garden and Vuyiswa is her role model because she takes care of them.

All of the speakers appealed for help and the SWF is going to discuss how we can assist. Anyone who wants to assist, please direct message this page and we will connect you to the Centre.

Category: THE NEW WORKER | FEATURES