Outreach for the Aged evicted from Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre’s Recreational Hall
With no place to cook food or feed the residents at the home, the members of the outreach are concerned about how they will help the elderly in need.
Outreach for the Aged has been evicted from Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre and is unsure of how they will care for the residents now.
Fatima Solomons, owner of the outreach explained they made use of the retirement centre’s recreational hall to prepare food to feed the residents. She added aside from feeding them they also cared for other needs the residents might have including nappies and oxygen. They also have caregivers that help those who need medical assistance, if residents needed an ambulance, Fatima would call for one and pay for it out of her pocket.
“I just help those in need. When someone needs something they will call me and I will do what I can to get them what they need, whether it is food or medical attention,” she stated.
On July 13 they were informed to vacate the premises by August 31. Nadiem, Fatima’s husband, explained they started making use of the facility in 2015 and they’ve been trying to get a lease since then, however without success. He stated the hall was not being used for anything at the time they started utilising it. When they then took it over they cleaned it up a bit and started renting it out for wedding receptions and other functions of which the funds would then be used to feed the residents.
The eviction notice from the Department of Human Settlement stated the outreach was granted permission to use the facility for a period of three months from January 1, 2020, to March 2020, which was extended for two months to May 31, 2020. According to the notice they were then given notice to evict the property by August 31, however upon their request for an extension, to which there was an agreement for the outreach to use the premises until it can be rented out by the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC).
The notice continued: “We have since received several complaints from the office of the Ombudsman for the City of Johannesburg. There is no lease agreement between your organisation and the City of Johannesburg, making the usage of the hall irregular and illegal.”
“We were in constant contact with housing to provide us with a lease, to no avail. The facility has been maintained by outreach since 2015, at no cost to the City. There is no information on how to go about resolving the issue of the lease with the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC),” said Nadiem.
Gareth Brown, deputy director for Communications and Stakeholder Management for the MMC of Human Settlement said: “There was no formal contract with Fatima. Secondly, she used the Hall for her own business, by unlawfully renting it out for private events. Currently, JPC is in the process of advertising to lease the hall, so she can also apply, with everyone else who might be interested.”
Currently, the outreach is operating from their home, still feeding around 200 residents from Donovan McDonald Retirement Centre. Marlene Johnson from Outreach for the Aged explained it is rather difficult as they now have to cook the food elsewhere and then dish it out before handing it out to the residents.
She added, “We are doing it because we have love for the aged, not for our own gain.”
Fatima explained with the eviction she does not have the funds to support the residents medically, the way she used to before. Nor can she do repairs at the home, such as repairing the security’s toilets. She stated they used to do something for special occasions such as giving gifts and having a party for the residents on Christmas and they would do something special on Mother’s Day, Spring Day and so on. Now they are unable to do so.
Yasien Willaims, a resident, stated, “I feel sad because the elderly are suffering here, especially the ones needing medical care, it’s a big concern.”
Jerry Naidoo, another resident, added the situation is very bad as some of the men in the residence can’t cook and their pensions don’t last them very long especially if they need medication or a hospital. He stated his son also comes to feed the residents once a month.
Fatima concluded the department could have handled the situation differently and she and the others at the outreach never did any of this for self-enrichment, purely out of care for the elderly.
