City of Johannesburg hold oversight visit at Donovan McDonald Retirement Home
Complaints continue to come from residents inside the retirement facility.
The City of Johannesburg (CoJ) sent a delegation to Donovan McDonald for an oversight visit on May 22.
Representatives from the office of the Chair of Chairs were accompanied by the CoJ Ombudsman following complaints from residents about deteriorating living conditions, lack of adequate maintenance and safety concerns. The Chair of Chairs is the Chairperson of Section 79 Committee Chairpersons and the oversight party .consisted of Director for Governance and Oversight, Sam Shabane, the Acting Regional Head, Winsley Masinga, and Advocate Livhuwani Tshiwalule from the Office of the Ombudsman.
The teams interacted with the residents at the facility to get first-hand experience of the conditions. Some of the issues identified included cracked floor tiles, broken windows, and burst water pipes that have been flowing for months. The facility is a high-rise building and the elderly depend on the lifts to move around but some of the lifts are not working. This has posed a major concern and frustration to the elderly.
Shabane assured residents that the office of the Chair of Chairs will coordinate efforts from relevant departments to improve the quality of services.
“We will ensure that all departments and persons responsible for maintenance on health and safety issues are held responsible. We have also brought officials from the ombudsman’s office that has the mandate to ensure that whoever is responsible for the deteriorating conditions is held accountable,” said Shabane.
Some of the major complaints raised by the residents included a poor state of security which has resulted in incidents of vehicle theft on the premises. Residents also complained that some of the occupants in the units live there illegally.
The Office of the Ombudsman had a stall set up at the venue to allow the residents to register complaints. Tshiwalule encouraged residents to make use of the ombudsman’s office for long-standing issues, especially those that pose health and safety risks, especially to frail elderly.
“The City has a responsibility to ensure that every senior citizen is well taken care of in these facilities. Therefore, all departments including social development must play their role to ensure that this facility provides conducive living conditions,” said Tshiwalule.
Shabane promised the residents that the team will return to the facility to inspect progress on the issues raised.
