HAVING reached the ripe old age of 60 years, The Association for the Aged (TAFTA) took stock of its first six decades at a flag hoisting ceremony at John Dunn House in Wentworth on Monday, 12 February.
With attendees including deputy mayor, Fawzia Peer, local guests and the home’s residents, TAFTA CEO Femada Shamam reflected on the many successes and challenges that the seniors-focused association has endured and overcome.
“The beauty of our organisation is that when we hit stormy seas, we readjust our sails and ride the storm,” she added.
While other seniors-focused organisations had faced closure in recent times, TAFTA remained strong because of the collective efforts of its elders, donors and council members who work tirelessly to maintain its fortitude.
“We take stock as we celebrate this milestone anniversary and recognise that our success and our growth over 60 years has been the result of contributions by many individuals, partners, funders and supporters. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the passion and investment of our stakeholder community,” said Shamam.
Through six decades of dedicated service, TAFTA has remained at the forefront of elder care, with its vision to aspire to a society where all people, including the elderly, are treated with dignity and to have the opportunity to live fulfilled lives.
Fostering a culture of care based on TAFTA’s core values of compassion, respect, co-operation, integrity and service excellence, the organisation’s uncompromised standard of service has propelled its mandate, touching the lives of more than 5,500 senior citizens in KZN.
“TAFTA’s milestone celebration will weave a retrospective of the past 60 years into a fabric of predictions for a future abundant with great possibilities. It gives us a chance to reflect on our promise to care for an aging society and envision our future plans,” added Shamam.
Deputy mayor Fawzia Peer congratulated TAFTA on its 60 unblemished years of service to the elderly community. She said old age care is unthinkable without TAFTA, which has positioned itself as a matriarch in the sector, as a repository for humanity.
She decried the modern age’s predilection for social media, whose integration in social settings has had a major influence on social interaction in homes and families.
“There is a generational and digital divide in families because of social media,” she said.
“Most seniors are not tech-savvy and are left to themselves with no-one to communicate with much of the time, as family members ‘speak’ to their devices.”
She added that: ‘‘We live in a time where human to human emotions and interaction is on the decline, and the elderly bear the brunt of this.’’
She wished TAFTA all strength, perseverance and continued success as it embarks on the next 60 years of operations.
National Lotteries Commission provincial manager Sanele Dlamini said the sole reason for the NLC’s existence is to support initiatives such as TAFTA. He recalled the importance of elders in his upbringing as a “born-free” in the 1990s. As a young Zulu man, he spent a lot of time in the company of his grandmother, who told stories. “These stories made me who I am today,” he added, saying they were tales about his family history.
“Cellphones mean we no longer interact with our elders, who are far away even though they are close to us.”
To mark the diamond jubilee celebration, TAFTA is rolling out a series of events and activations throughout the year, highlighting its mission to inspire active ageing.
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