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WHY OPENING OF E15M ELDERLY HOME DELAYED

31/01/2023 08:26:00 Nonduduzo Kunene

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MBABANE – Government’s E15 million elderly and disability home’s opening in Mankayane has been delayed.

The much awaited government’s first disability and elderly home was supposed to have opened its doors to the elderly and people with disabilities at the beginning of the month. The home is located between Mankayane Police Station and the government hospital. The centre is expected to house over 50 elderly people as well as those with disabilities. The centre is under the portfolio of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO), which is responsible for the welfare of the elderly and people with disabilities. It is the first elderly home initiated by government through the department of Social Welfare (DSW).

Last year October, the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku, Civil Service Commission Chairperson Simanga Mamba, DPMO’s Principal Secretary (PS) Melusi Masuku, members of the portfolio committee, Manzini Regional Administrator Chief Gija, among others, toured the facility. During the official visit, it was announced that the centre was nearing its completion stage. The elderly facility, which has four three-bedroom units, a canteen, semi-detached two-bedroom houses for staff, is already fully furnished. The only structure that had not been furnished at the time was the disability home and some paving work and roads were incomplete. Hiring of staff members who are supposed to work at the home had not been done at the time of the tour. Guidelines that were supposed to be followed to admit eligible candidates to the home were also supposed to be completed within three months after the tour. Three months later, the centre has not started accommodating the elderly and people with disabilities. There is no tentative date on when the centre will start operating.

The PS in the DPM’s Office said they encountered minor delays regarding the opening of the home. He stated that the first issue that led to the delay was the access road to the centre.
“It’s a pity we couldn’t start operating in January as planned,” he said. The reason for the delay in completing the road, according to Masuku ,was because the contractor had not completed the construction work in the centre as they were still constructing the access road to the facility. Secondly, the PS said the disability facility had not been fully completed. He said they were working on procuring furniture and equipment for the disability unit.

Adding, the PS said 13 staff members for the facility had been recruited and were undergoing training at Mankayane Government Hospital. “We are grateful to the Ministry of Public Service and the Civil Service Commission for the vacancies,” he said. The PS said the staff members included nurses and orderlies who would be working at the centre. He said the reason they were attached to the hospital was for them to get on-the-job training because their work required a lot of skill and dedication. “They have been training for almost two months now because we do not want to find ourselves in a situation where we take incompetent people to look after people with special needs,” he said.

Masuku mentioned that besides being trained on care-giving, the staff was also trained on how to handle waste management, among other forms of training. He highlighted that the Ministry of Health was assisting them in the health care and environmental health sector. “We anticipate the training will take a month or two in order to avoid further delays,” he said.
Further, the PS stated that the Social Welfare Department was finalising the guidelines that would be used to select people who were eligible to be accommodated in the facility. He said the guidelines would be shared with the public in due time.

Overall, the elderly home will house senior citizens who live alone, are vulnerable and neglected. Meanwhile, the disability unit will house children with disability whose parents are often working and do not have anybody to look after their young ones. Parents of these children will take their children with them on weekends but a lot of the criterions will be outlined in the guidelines.