Ageing in a changing environment - by Catherine Sasman
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23 Apr 2010
WINDHOEK – Senior citizens in Namibia want to take action to improve their living standards and conditions in an increasingly harsh environm...
WINDHOEK – Senior citizens in Namibia want to take action to improve their living standards and conditions in an increasingly harsh environment.
A small group of senior citizens met yesterday afternoon to discuss the possibility of establishing an association that will give them a voice and improve the living standards of the elderly.
This idea was put forward by the Namibian Women’s Association (Nawa) after a yearlong contemplation and discussion with international organisations for the elderly.
“We feel the lot of senior citizens is not what it should be. This is the most neglected group in the country,” said Otillie Abrahams of Nawa.
This often results in a sense of hopelessness; once people become pensioners, they adopt the attitude that they now resignedly wait for death, and that their lives are over.
“We are not happy with the current situation, especially when one considers the fact that senior citizens have a lifetime of experience in a wide variety of fields. We think senior citizens can still play a big role in society,” said Abrahams.
If an association for senior citizens will be established, it intends to lobby government for an increased pension, a “liveable” social grant despite the recent increase of N$50, and improved services to the elderly.
This effort is bolstered by the recent protest marches in Rehoboth, Mariental and Maltahöhe, where residents are demanding the establishment of more old age homes.
The group that met yesterday has already made contact with elderly persons in Keetmanshoop, Rehoboth and Omaruru.
For the moment, the situation seems rather bleak, and if things do not change, Namibia should prepare itself for a “worse-case scenario” as far as the aged is concerned.
Senior citizens are often struggling to get the most basic of services because of their financial vulnerability and weakened physical conditions.
The case of Daantjie and Sarie Coetzee – aged 66 and 58 respectively – is but one example, and by far not the worst, of how senior citizens are struggling to keep the home fires burning.
Sarie, who suffers from debilitating high blood pressure, has applied for a disability grant from the state no less than three times at the behest of a state doctor. Her application was refused three times.
The only fixed income for the family is Daantjie’s monthly pension, which is by far not enough. And although he is retired from the construction business, he is thus forced to keep on working, although just on a freelance basis, in a physically demanding working environment.
Ida Snyder is struggling to hold on to her home, for which she has to fork out N$340 from her N$500 pension money.
The senior citizens discussed ways that would immediately make their lives easier.
Of the ideas put on the table is to share information. One such idea is information about grocery specials – as groceries amount for the largest portion of the pensioner’s expenses.
Another is for the establishment of a network of retired professionals and craftsmen to provide services to other elderly people at a reduced rate for a small and added income.
Yet another idea was the establishment of a rotating credit union [stokvel], bulk shopping and travel clubs to reduce transport costs, and so on.
The Old People’s Act dating back to the 1960s makes provision for double subsidisation. What this means is that as much as parents have a legal obligation to take care of their children, so too do children towards their aging parents.
Moreover, African rights charters have specific inscription unique to the continent that spells out children’s responsibilities towards their parents.
But with a fast-modernising society such as Namibia, increasingly nuclear-formational urban families find it difficult to take care of the extended family, which includes the elderly.
In the city and towns, between 80 and 85 percent of the population is dependent on a salary, and less so in rural areas.
To survive in the city and towns often means that there must be at least two salaries to keep a household afloat. This has the result that urban households cannot function as an extended family in an urban setting, because of the prohibitively high cost of living, and quite simply because houses are not big enough to accommodate all.
Senior social work lecturer at the Karlstads University in Sweden, Lars Bergström, is of the opinion that Namibia should rethink how families are dealing – among others – with the most vulnerable in their midst, the elderly.
But quantifying and qualifying the situation is crucial to understand what is required.
For now, he said, there appears to be little interest in academic circles, and only one academic paper produced in “modern” Namibia specifically deals with the aged question.
And yet, he said, the consequences can be dire if Namibia does not start thinking and planning for a sustainable old-age scenario.
In fact, said Bergström, Namibia is steering towards an abysmal worse-case scenario.
“Namibia is running towards that scenario; Namibia will achieve what it does not want to achieve if there is no planning,” is Bergström’s cautious verdict.
He is busy with a study on aging in Namibia, which considers the social, pension and legal systems.
Apart from numerous interviews and focus group discussions – with young people – he has visited 15 old age homes and sub-economic housing provided for the elderly in Namibia.
According to Bergström, Namibia has proportionally the eldest population, or those older than 80, in Africa. The elderly constitute about seven percent of the total population.
For him, this means that Namibia is in a situation where more people gain a high age. The prognosis for 2030 is that there will be around 300 000 pensioners, if this population is 140 000 today.
And while he applauds the number of elderly that receives a government social pension, he nonetheless feels that the amount is by far not enough.
“I am impressed with the pension system, not so much for the amount of money availed, but because it covers close to 90 percent of the aged. I think Namibia is the best in the class in Africa on this.”
During the second national development planning period, government intended for 95 percent of the elderly to receive social grants. Disappointingly, only 82 percent were reached, although it is a relatively large number.
The fast pace at which Namibia is modernising – and with more people relying on a salary – has serious consequences for social systems, especially the family system.
“This might mean that you won’t have a double subsidisation,” said Bergström.
What is happening in Namibia today, he said, is what happened in Nordic countries 70 or 80 years ago.
“Things are changing much faster than what people think, and there are definite changes to the family system.
“The planners must think about the new situations and make at the very least theoretical planning on how to handle the situation of aging.
“Social structures are very easy to destroy but very difficult to rebuild; you can ruin a family in one generation but it takes three generations to rebuild what has been broken down,” he said.
According to Bergström, the younger generation is well aware of their responsibilities towards the elderly, but find it difficult to combine a career, to earn a reasonable salary, and still take care of the extended family.
Another dimension to this matter is the attitude of growing older and becoming more dependent on others.
In Namibia, white pensioners have less of a problem to become physically separated from their offspring and enter an old age home.
Among black communities, entering an old age home is often viewed as “going to prison” on the one hand, and to the child, a feeling of personal failure if he or she cannot take care of the aged.
Although there are more poor whites than before, the white elderly copes better with the social pension because they are in most cases not required to take responsibility for their families.
In black communities, this picture is often entirely different – many elderly people are expected to fork out money for grandchildren and other household expenses.
In fact, said Bergström, it was found that a larger number of grandchildren whose parents are still alive live with grandparents than orphaned children. But the financial responsibilities of the elderly are not less in these cases.
“In principle, decision makers must start another form of planning for the aged; they cannot rely on the old system because they are busy building a new society. There is a need to build new traditions and accept the changes in society,” said Bergström.
So, for example, he said the institutionalization of the elderly is very expensive, and alternatives should be considered for cheaper solutions.
“It is the poor people who are really in trouble, and more so for men because they find it more difficult to engage in functions of the family. You either have running [active] people or those who are sitting; there is nothing in between.”
But, said Bergström, the situation is not hopeless, but a more proactive manner to deal with it is needed.
“It is not something that will be solved by itself; it must be planned for.”
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A small group of senior citizens met yesterday afternoon to discuss the possibility of establishing an association that will give them a voice and improve the living standards of the elderly.
This idea was put forward by the Namibian Women’s Association (Nawa) after a yearlong contemplation and discussion with international organisations for the elderly.
“We feel the lot of senior citizens is not what it should be. This is the most neglected group in the country,” said Otillie Abrahams of Nawa.
This often results in a sense of hopelessness; once people become pensioners, they adopt the attitude that they now resignedly wait for death, and that their lives are over.
“We are not happy with the current situation, especially when one considers the fact that senior citizens have a lifetime of experience in a wide variety of fields. We think senior citizens can still play a big role in society,” said Abrahams.
If an association for senior citizens will be established, it intends to lobby government for an increased pension, a “liveable” social grant despite the recent increase of N$50, and improved services to the elderly.
This effort is bolstered by the recent protest marches in Rehoboth, Mariental and Maltahöhe, where residents are demanding the establishment of more old age homes.
The group that met yesterday has already made contact with elderly persons in Keetmanshoop, Rehoboth and Omaruru.
For the moment, the situation seems rather bleak, and if things do not change, Namibia should prepare itself for a “worse-case scenario” as far as the aged is concerned.
Senior citizens are often struggling to get the most basic of services because of their financial vulnerability and weakened physical conditions.
The case of Daantjie and Sarie Coetzee – aged 66 and 58 respectively – is but one example, and by far not the worst, of how senior citizens are struggling to keep the home fires burning.
Sarie, who suffers from debilitating high blood pressure, has applied for a disability grant from the state no less than three times at the behest of a state doctor. Her application was refused three times.
The only fixed income for the family is Daantjie’s monthly pension, which is by far not enough. And although he is retired from the construction business, he is thus forced to keep on working, although just on a freelance basis, in a physically demanding working environment.
Ida Snyder is struggling to hold on to her home, for which she has to fork out N$340 from her N$500 pension money.
The senior citizens discussed ways that would immediately make their lives easier.
Of the ideas put on the table is to share information. One such idea is information about grocery specials – as groceries amount for the largest portion of the pensioner’s expenses.
Another is for the establishment of a network of retired professionals and craftsmen to provide services to other elderly people at a reduced rate for a small and added income.
Yet another idea was the establishment of a rotating credit union [stokvel], bulk shopping and travel clubs to reduce transport costs, and so on.
The Old People’s Act dating back to the 1960s makes provision for double subsidisation. What this means is that as much as parents have a legal obligation to take care of their children, so too do children towards their aging parents.
Moreover, African rights charters have specific inscription unique to the continent that spells out children’s responsibilities towards their parents.
But with a fast-modernising society such as Namibia, increasingly nuclear-formational urban families find it difficult to take care of the extended family, which includes the elderly.
In the city and towns, between 80 and 85 percent of the population is dependent on a salary, and less so in rural areas.
To survive in the city and towns often means that there must be at least two salaries to keep a household afloat. This has the result that urban households cannot function as an extended family in an urban setting, because of the prohibitively high cost of living, and quite simply because houses are not big enough to accommodate all.
Senior social work lecturer at the Karlstads University in Sweden, Lars Bergström, is of the opinion that Namibia should rethink how families are dealing – among others – with the most vulnerable in their midst, the elderly.
But quantifying and qualifying the situation is crucial to understand what is required.
For now, he said, there appears to be little interest in academic circles, and only one academic paper produced in “modern” Namibia specifically deals with the aged question.
And yet, he said, the consequences can be dire if Namibia does not start thinking and planning for a sustainable old-age scenario.
In fact, said Bergström, Namibia is steering towards an abysmal worse-case scenario.
“Namibia is running towards that scenario; Namibia will achieve what it does not want to achieve if there is no planning,” is Bergström’s cautious verdict.
He is busy with a study on aging in Namibia, which considers the social, pension and legal systems.
Apart from numerous interviews and focus group discussions – with young people – he has visited 15 old age homes and sub-economic housing provided for the elderly in Namibia.
According to Bergström, Namibia has proportionally the eldest population, or those older than 80, in Africa. The elderly constitute about seven percent of the total population.
For him, this means that Namibia is in a situation where more people gain a high age. The prognosis for 2030 is that there will be around 300 000 pensioners, if this population is 140 000 today.
And while he applauds the number of elderly that receives a government social pension, he nonetheless feels that the amount is by far not enough.
“I am impressed with the pension system, not so much for the amount of money availed, but because it covers close to 90 percent of the aged. I think Namibia is the best in the class in Africa on this.”
During the second national development planning period, government intended for 95 percent of the elderly to receive social grants. Disappointingly, only 82 percent were reached, although it is a relatively large number.
The fast pace at which Namibia is modernising – and with more people relying on a salary – has serious consequences for social systems, especially the family system.
“This might mean that you won’t have a double subsidisation,” said Bergström.
What is happening in Namibia today, he said, is what happened in Nordic countries 70 or 80 years ago.
“Things are changing much faster than what people think, and there are definite changes to the family system.
“The planners must think about the new situations and make at the very least theoretical planning on how to handle the situation of aging.
“Social structures are very easy to destroy but very difficult to rebuild; you can ruin a family in one generation but it takes three generations to rebuild what has been broken down,” he said.
According to Bergström, the younger generation is well aware of their responsibilities towards the elderly, but find it difficult to combine a career, to earn a reasonable salary, and still take care of the extended family.
Another dimension to this matter is the attitude of growing older and becoming more dependent on others.
In Namibia, white pensioners have less of a problem to become physically separated from their offspring and enter an old age home.
Among black communities, entering an old age home is often viewed as “going to prison” on the one hand, and to the child, a feeling of personal failure if he or she cannot take care of the aged.
Although there are more poor whites than before, the white elderly copes better with the social pension because they are in most cases not required to take responsibility for their families.
In black communities, this picture is often entirely different – many elderly people are expected to fork out money for grandchildren and other household expenses.
In fact, said Bergström, it was found that a larger number of grandchildren whose parents are still alive live with grandparents than orphaned children. But the financial responsibilities of the elderly are not less in these cases.
“In principle, decision makers must start another form of planning for the aged; they cannot rely on the old system because they are busy building a new society. There is a need to build new traditions and accept the changes in society,” said Bergström.
So, for example, he said the institutionalization of the elderly is very expensive, and alternatives should be considered for cheaper solutions.
“It is the poor people who are really in trouble, and more so for men because they find it more difficult to engage in functions of the family. You either have running [active] people or those who are sitting; there is nothing in between.”
But, said Bergström, the situation is not hopeless, but a more proactive manner to deal with it is needed.
“It is not something that will be solved by itself; it must be planned for.”
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