Madam Speaker, one of the most important values this nation has lost is respect for life, authority and property. Many children have lost respect for their parents, teachers and the elderly in general. When one sees how old pensioners are treated by officials, the long queues they have to stand in and the long hours they have to wait before receiving their grants, one can only conclude that government has also lost respect for the elderly. We wonder why our elderly people are not treated with the dignity they deserve as they are our parents.
It was sad to read about pensioners who had to flee from robbers yesterday morning in Umlazi. Reports said that some of the elderly people sustained injuries when the robbers attacked. One of them, who was pistol-whipped, sustained serious injuries. A police spokesperson said that the robbers entered the hall and held up people at gunpoint. This incident happened just a week after three elderly women escaped a hail of bullets at the Hibberdene pension paypoint.
The ACDP wants to know why government is not providing sufficient security for these elderly people at paypoints. Why are we seeing government guaranteeing the safety of international guests, but not concerned enough about ensuring the safety of our most vulnerable people, especially the elderly? If government cannot protect us all, the least they can do is to protect our elderly, and that is my appeal.