GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
22 May 2025
*Note to editor: This speech was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament Brett Herron during today’s discussion: Addressing systemic neglect and abuse in elderly care facilities – a call for urgent reforms to protect vulnerable seniors in the Western Cape
Chairperson, Honourable Members,
Let me paint you a picture.
You work, and work hard, for fifty years. You contribute to this country, raise a family, pay your taxes, and do your part. Retirement comes, and like many South Africans, life hasn’t been easy. You can’t afford luxury, but you’re looking for peace, safety, and dignity. So, you search for affordable elderly care. Instead, you end up in a homeless shelter, one that highlights its frail care facility. This isn’t the retirement you dreamed of, but it’s all you could afford. But that doesn’t mean you signed up for a nightmare.
The truth is that this province is failing our elderly. It is not developing, or even enabling the development, of affordable, institutional housing for poor seniors.
In that gap, under-regulated private shelters have stepped in. Many of these places, like, Magda Safe Haven in Elsies River, are exploiting pensioners.
Reports tell of locked doors, banned visitors, and squalid conditions, this is more akin to a hell hole, not a haven. Is this how we allow people to live out their final years?
These shelters were never designed for long-term stays or frail care. Both of which require more staff, especially trained staff, and resources. This isn’t aged care. It’s abuse. And while these facilities may be privately run, the province cannot wash its hands. This province has a duty of care. That duty doesn’t end where private operations begin. Even private shelters must meet minimum norms and standards. Oversight is not a luxury; it is a moral and legal obligation.
We need urgent reforms: the expansion of affordable housing for the elderly, and the regulation of all facilities. Because how we treat our elders speaks volumes about who we are and right now, it’s telling a story of abandonment, and that must end.