Welcome to Sandton, Johannesburg’s opulent financial district
also known as the richest square mile in Africa.
It is a stone’s throw away from the township of Alexandra,
equally vibrant, but with many people struggling to have a decent life.
This is my house where I am staying but now I’m outside the door,
I can’t get inside anymore.
I need somebody to support me to get inside the house.
The toilets are very far from me.
People they have to push me at night
to go to the toilets.
I’ve got one of my friends, I just phone him
He stays next door there.
Ben spent 48 years of his life under apartheid, a system of racial segregation
that discriminated against black, coloured and Indian/Asian people in South Africa for decades.
Apartheid policies denied the majority of today’s older South Africans a good standard
of education, decent work and the ability to save for older age.
I have lived here since 1980.
Here at the Helen Joseph Hostel.
I never managed to save any money when I was working as there was no one
working at home, and I had to support everyone. There was nothing to save.
Florence is 79 and is eligible to receive the monthly Older Person’s Grant
about a $110 from the government.
It is for people aged 60 and above.
She also receives an additional monthly Grant-in-Aid of R500 about $25,
to pay someone to care for her at home.
She says the money does not go far enough to enable her to live with dignity.
If I fall sick, I have my neighbour here.
We agreed that if I fall sick, I am going to knock on the wall
several times even if it's at night.
They will know that I'm calling them and that something is wrong.
This is the Eastern Cape, one of South Africa’s most beautiful provinces
but also one of its poorest.
Here, there are very few government care and support services
available for older people in the community.
This is one of the few...
The way older persons are treated by government is not acceptable.
We find situations where government would say,
I am not going to fund older persons.
And we have to take government to court for that.
It shouldn't be like that.
At the Dimbaza Society for the Aged, older people take part in social, educational and other activities.
In this centre there are a number of beneficiaries who want to come and register
but they can’t do that because the money they [the centre] have or the money
they get from government is not enough.
We do not receive enough money from government.
So, what is the point of allowing other beneficiaries to come in
when in fact you are not going to have food for them.
You can’t do that.
It’s not easy for me to look after my mother. It’s just the two of us here.
I start work at 8.30am and I'm not supposed to be late.
For me to be at work on time, I have to catch the 6 am taxi for East London.
At times I get home around 9 pm. She is alone in the house.
She wakes up and cooks for me and leaves the food.
When I’m hungry I take the food. I don’t go hungry.
I don’t worry if she comes late because I know she will come.
As she is alone here at home, there is a lot that can happen to her.
She can be attacked and also raped.
Those things can happen because she is alone and we live on the edge of the forest in this village.
When I get home, I wonder if she is there in the house.
It does not sit well with me…
Pamela would like someone to support her mother when she is at work,
but her wages and her mother’s Older Person’s Grant are not enough.
South Africa is obligated under international human rights law
to ensure that older people can live independently and within the community.
I don’t think I can find someone who can look after her for R500 [$25] a month.
The constitution provides that their dignity must be protected.
It says that government must provide funding to these people.
There in parliament there are old grannies who arrived when they were young.
But they do not seem to know anything about us older people.
They have never come to say we want to do something for us grannies.
Nothing.