Abuse Of Elderly People

Abuse of older persons is a prevalent problem in South Africa and is also considered a serious public health problem. Such abuse is increasingly a matter of global concern. Awareness of the abuse of the elders in the country is growing but the lack of response from the South African Government leaves the elders vulnerable to discrimination, abuse and neglect. The elders played a vital role in communities where they were regarded as leaders with wisdom, caregivers and volunteers. It is clear that with the changing times the role played by the elders in communities has also changed; they are now excluded from the society, marginalized, abused and ill-treated. While age discrimination is experienced by older persons in a variety of social contexts,

In April 2002, South Africa and other countries were part of the countries that signed the declaration on the Implementation of the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing. This required every country to develop a Plan of Action on Ageing to ensure the integration of issues raised in the Declaration into the country’s programme of action and to address country specific challenges (SA Plan of Action for Elders Persons-TAFTA). The Department of Social Development has been a central player in South Africa in creating awareness of the rights of elders people with several campaigns and initiatives of the civil society organisations are being held on a daily basis (Malherbe

Even though there are a number of interventions that have been done a lot still needs to be done. This chapter initially dealt with the issue of ageism and abuse and, through different sources, investigated the severity of the problem of elder abuse. The role of government in responding to the plight of elders and the role played by different civil society organisations have been looked into in this chapter. A specific study and discussion of different pieces of legislation dealing with elders people has been considered, including the old Older Persons Act and the new Act after the democratic dispensation in South Africa. A more focused discussion on the rights to social security and community-based care for the elders person has also been discussed and the literature reveals successes although faced with challenges such as the lack of awareness and, often, the high number of elders who are primary caregivers in many households in South Africa, especially in KwaZulu-Natal as revealed by Statistics South Africa’s social profile 2002 to 2009. This chapter also discussed the pre and post-apartheid policies and legislations that were designed and are designed to address the plight of the elders. Furthermore, this chapter introduced a comparison of the legislations and policies dealing with elders people in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Most importantly, this chapter introduced