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Category:
News /
Personal Finance /
June 2008
Older
People
Going
Hungry
In
Our
Midst
The umpteenth interest rate increase in South Africa affects older
people in various ways.
Those who are lucky enough to have investments or whose home loans
are paid off are smiling. On the other hand, there are thousands of
older people (by far the majority) for whom the increase, along with
the fuel price increases, food prices and general inflation, is
absolutely devastating.
That’s according to Arnold van der Linde, Executive Chairman of the
IntegriSure group.
He
says that several social service organisations are already helping
the new cases of people suffering.
Though all who are suffering must be helped, it’s ironic that South
Africa is currently having to help people in refugee camps, while
the need is just as bad, or even worse, in many South African
households.
The only difference is that the South Africans who are suffering
aren’t grouped together, but are spread among our communities.
Especially older people who are suffering are usually too proud to
admit it. Van der Linde says that society has become less focused on
the needs of other people and that we isolate ourselves behind high
walls. It could thus easily happen that older people who are
suffering become even poorer or go hungry without their immediate
neighbours knowing about it. He says that South Africans should
become more sensitive about the needs of others.
At
the same time, Van der Linde says, there are many older people who
are entitled to discounts, but do not make use of them. There are
several organisations that specifically give discounts to older
people. However, it’s the duty of these people to ask for them – not
because they are poor, but because they’re entitled to them.
Van der Linde also says that older people often seem to have a sense
of pride. They worked hard and responsibly for years to build a
community. Now the community is giving them something back in the
form of a discount for certain services and products.
He
tells the story of a 77-year-old lady living on the breadline who
did not know how she would survive the shock of another rise in
prices. She burst into tears when she heard that she could save R300
a month on her insurance, just because she’s over 50. “The irony is
that she qualified for it years ago. She never claimed her
discount,” Van der Linde said.
“And older people don’t have to be suffering hardship to claim the
discounts. It’s the done thing all over the world to give something
back to older people in the form of discounts for their role in
helping to build the community.”
There is no stigma attached to claiming what you’ve earned, Van der
Linde said. There are people who only realise now that they’ve
thrown away nearly R15 000 in the past three years, simply because
they didn’t ask for their rightful discounts.
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