BY NALEDI BOGACWI
THE North West provincial government premier Supra Mahumapelo’s wife, Kule Mahumapelo launched the Grandparents Day at Mmabatho Convention Centre in Mahikeng on Sunday. Kule said that she launched this program in innovative way to celebrate the lives of elderly people in the province.
Mahumapelo, together with faith-based organisations, traditional leaders and business entities took this initiative towards reaching out to the elderly in the province as part of giving back to society’s needs.
“It has always been my journey and dream to give back to society and encourage other sectors and the community to do the same. The issues that are faced by our elderly people are societal matter and is not only the responsibility of government. We need to assist the community in making sure that every citizen has the right to live under conducive condition,” Kule said.
A 45 year-old businesswoman said that the initiative was driven by passion and she was concerned about the condition elder people always found themselves in. She said most of the elderly people live in fear from their own children.
“Most of the challenges we came across after visiting the elderly people, you will find that their grandchildren abuse them either financial, some of them tend to be raped or either left with a burden of raising grand children while their parents are nowhere to be found.”
Mahumapelo said that they called on various stakeholders to take part in the initiative and they will work hand-in-hand with Social Development department.
About 300 most senior citizens from previously disadvantaged areas as far as Masutlhe, Seweding, Lokaleng and other areas of Mahikeng were showered with gifts in honour of the heritage and teachings embedded throughout history.
Some of the elderly received massage and Violet Morule from Tloung village in Mahikeng said: “I high-appreciate the initiative by Kule Mahumapelo because it seemed that we were forgotten as senior citizens. We would like to see more programs like this one as some of elderly people are living in poverty because their children ignore them.”
Another recipient was Maria Seleke from Dryharts village, in Taung. Seleke who was blind said that the government must make sure they are taken care of.
“We sometimes encounter problems when visiting government institutions. The departments are far, and at the end of the day we need to use our small money for transportation to visit hospitals and other government institutions. We would be grateful if the service could be upgraded also to suit us as senior citizens.” Seleke said.
Kule Mahumapelo said that the initiative will be spreading across the province.
Activities that unfolded during the day had been encapsulated to fulfil the daily appetite of the elderly.
“The programme is intended to be celebrated on a yearly basis throughout the four districts of the province that will eventually culminate into a provincial event. We have partnered with Victoria’s hospital which helping us in conducting health screening. We also have Red Cross organisation and we urge all stakeholders and businesspersons in the province to be part of this,” Kule said.
She said that grandparents were a vital link in strong families and increasingly, they helped to take care of our nation’s children. Kule said that the role of the parents has also increased as more grandparents served as primary caregivers and more grandchildren were living with them.
“We call upon the youth to be part of the initiative because I believe they contribute to the burden that our grandparents found themselves in. We want to eliminate this, so we cannot do it alone.” Kule said.
North West Office of the Premier Representative, Bishop Michael Khunou said that the initiative was a supplementary from the premier’s vision.
“We saw it fit to partner with the wife of the premier because as the second citizen in the province, she has a responsibility. We support the motion and believe that this will touch many lives across the province.” Khunou said.
The grandparents received blankets and food parcels.
-TDN
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