Elderly still feeling vulnerable
Sandton - Rosehaven Retirement Village residents still feel vulnerable as a collapsed wall on the premises has not been repaired.
As reported in Too Vulnerable, week ending 22 April, the issue of a collapsed barrier wall at Rosehaven Retirement Village in Sandton was described as a desperate one.
This wall collapsed as a result of flooding of the stream which flows through George Lea Park. Unfortunately, these vulnerable residents are still living with this collapsed wall and their head of maintenance, Simon Eccles, has become extremely desperate to find help because of the vagrants living on the other side of the boundary.
Ward councillor, Anthony Still, described the issues of vagrants in that area as a serious one. He said, “The big issue is that when we move them, they simply return after a while. Many of the workers in the area prefer to sleep with the vagrants to avoid going home every day.”
Still also explained that the issue was amplified by the fact that many of these vagrants did not want to stay at a homeless shelter, where they were often taken. He described this issue as a ‘societal issue whereby people are coming into the city’.
Eccles said, “These poor old people see the vagrants on the other side of the wall and they have become extremely anxious. It is terrible to know that their safety and well-being are at risk and, as the head of maintenance, I am constantly worrying about their security. Many of our residents are of ill health and cannot afford to have this extra anxiety.”
Anthony Modena, chairperson of the Sandton Community Police Forum’s executive committee, said communities needed to come together to help solve the problem of vagrants in the area as it was a huge issue.
Johannesburg Roads Agency spokesperson, Bertha Peters-Scheepers said a study was being conducted over the next few months in that area to establish the ‘steps required to improve the natural habitat and surrounding infrastructure’.
Eccles said he hoped this study would assist them in building a more stable wall that would not collapse again in the future. He explained that Rosehaven was a non-profit organisation with very little funding available to them. Eccles has now tried to claim from the village’s insurance company so that they can build a wall for the protection of the elderly residents.
He is appealing to members of the public to assist the home in any way possible and the home is looking for a security guard to be positioned at the collapsed wall until it has been repaired.
Details: 011 883 2872.
