Free State Premier condemns abuse of elderly people, holds dialogue

Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae has condemned the abuse of elderly people. Some organisations have raised concerns about the abuse and harassment of elderly people in their respective communities.

As a result, the office of the Premier held an Older Persons Dialogue in Bloemfontein on Thursday to discuss issues affecting the elderly.

Letsoha-Mathae says her office is working with the Community Safety, Roads and Transport Department to ensure their safety.

She says, “I even said to Mr Mbalula one time, can you even take the method of Thuthuzela Centres because sometimes they open cases, but it is difficult for the elderly to present their cases once they’ve opened a case. They get intimidated, sometimes, you ask them questions, the issue of Alzheimer’s, there’s dementia, they can’t recall some of them, so they need attention of social workers, so perhaps we need to approach it in such a way that they have an area where we prepare them, before they could even make their statements.”