Unitas Park Illegal centre for aged to be closed

VEREENIGING. – The centre manager of Vukuzenzele Old Age Centre, Puleng Elizabeth Tyandela is in hot water with the Department of Social Development.

This is after she opened and ran another non-compliant old age centre in Unitas Park recently.

The heat follows a complaint from a Sharpeville family who stated that their relative, who had been handed over to Tyandela by a social worker, had been sleeping in a cold shack on the floor. The family stated that as far as they were concerned, their family member was at Vukuzenzele in Zone 14, Sebokeng. They were shocked to find out that he had been sleeping in a Unitas Park, Vereeniging back room shack that floods during rainy days.

The staff that works for Tyandela stated that the centre that has been operating for almost a year and a half, accommodates 19 people and that nine of them sleep in the shack with mattresses while the other ten sleep in the main house.

On their arrival, officials from Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) and Social Development were shocked to find the unregistered centre up and running. Furthermore, the centre accommodated a mix of mentally challenged and physically disabled people, including the elderly, all living in one place. When asked for an explanation of what was going on, Tyandela said that she had made a mistake and was in the process of getting things fixed: “I am not a crook, I have already applied for an NPO certificate and I will get all the papers that are necessary to run this place.”

Tyandela also admitted to having run the centre without the knowledge of the Social Development Manager for NPOs Michael Marubini: “I have done a lot for the community. There are a lot of people that need a place to stay, which is why I saw a need for another centre,” says Tyandela, adding that even though her centre in Zone 14 is full, social workers bring people that need a place to stay and she always feels like she has to help them: “I have made a mistake, I never said that people must sleep in a shack. I am renting a house for them and that is where they are supposed to sleep. Not in the shack.”

Marubini warned Tyandela that what she had done was illegal as the place did not comply with the norms and standards of the department.
“There are so many things that are wrong with this place that we cannot tell you to continue running it while you know the processes,” he said. “We have to move these people and close this place until such time as you have complied with all the necessary rules and regulations that govern old age centres.”

Marubini stated that he and the other officials would have to give a report to the necessary officials and subsequently close the place down.