Caregivers at a Joza old age home who haven't received wage increases in over six years are struggling to soldier on with their jobs.
Caregivers at a Joza old age home who haven't received wage increases in over six years are struggling to soldier on with their jobs.
Staff at the humble Makanaskop facility say they enjoy their work and don't want to abandon their charges, but long hours with little pay is making life hard for them.
When a Grocott's Mail team visited the facility last week they were greeted by a polite care giver who was tasked with looking after the 11 residents by herself.
She said she was the only person on duty that day, having to cook, bake, clean and assist the elderly people.
Asking to remain anonymous, the care giver said she started working at Makanaskop in 2006.
She earned R700 a month when she started working at the home. This amount has not increased and pleas for wage increases have fallen on deaf ears, she said.
Like the other care givers at Makanaskop she enjoys looking after the residents, but feels their low salaries are demoralising and this makes it extremely hard to be positive about their jobs.
Other problems staff face include lack of training and diminishing resources.
According to one staff member, the home belongs to a non-governmental organisation called Age In Action.
The coordinator of the organisation's Port Elizabeth branch refused to comment, instead referring questions to the home's committee chairman Nkosana Khuselo.
While staff must fight for better treatment at Makanaskop, the residents find sanctuary in the modest home.
Most of them have been sent to the facility because they don't have anyone to look after them and there they are safe from abuse.
Residents pay about 80% of their pension grants to live there.
Rita Manyathi who has stayed at Makanaskop for about eight years says she's happy to live there because there was nobody else to look after her at her Joza home.
Edwin Joppie Mazwayi told Grocott's Mail that the home had become a safe place for him because he was losing control of his life in the township.
"I live nicely here, but you know every place has its problems," he said, adding that he was in charge of the garden. I look after this garden all by myself, with assistance from Rhodes University with planting material. I love gardening a lot," Mazwayi said.
In the end the elderly people are the ones who suffer due to the facility's unresolved management issues.
One staff member said the carers decided to reduce their working hours since the Age In Action committee has disregarded their requests for help.
She says the staff used to work 12-hour shifts, but because the committee turns a blind eye to their plight carers decided to stop working night shifts.
There are a total of six number of staff members at Makanaskop and they work in pairs during the week. On weekends only one person works, with assistance from correctional services employees.
Residents spend their nights unsupervised.
Staff also accuse committee chairman Khuselo of abusing the facility's vehicle, which is meant to be used to transport residents.
Khuselo said he wanted to meet with Grocott's Mail before responding to our questions. This was not possible at the time of publishing.
