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On 19 August 2022, the Office of the Ombudsman for the City of Johannesburg, in partnership with the city’s Social Development Department, visited the Annie Burger Old Age Home, situated south of Johannesburg, with the aim to raise awareness of our services, educate the elderly on their right to recourse and address some of the challenges relating to the poor quality of care received from municipal-owned old age homes.

Despite the cold weather conditions, the day’s activities kicked off with a warm welcome from Ward 54 Councillor, Cllr Stuart Marais, and closed off with an interactive Q&A session with the Ombudsman, Advocate Siduduzo Gumede; a candid engagement that saw many residents take to the stand to voice their concerns about the meagre living conditions namely within the Annie Burger Old Age Home, Xavier Street Old Age Home and Carrick Place Old Age Home, respectively.

“Our visit to the Annie Burger Old Age Home highlights society’s disposition towards the protection of the inherent dignity of older persons in general”, commented Advocate Siduduzo Gumede, Ombudsman.

“This has presented our office with an opportunity to strengthen its collaboration with the City of Johannesburg Social Development Department (in conjunction with other key stakeholders) and intensify efforts to ensure the rights of all elderly residents are protected within the confines of both the Constitution and Ombudsman By-Law”, concluded Advocate Gumede.

Through this senior citizen engagement, the office received a total of forty complaints ranging from security concerns and unmaintained facilities to allegations of the corrupt sale of units to young couples/families and drug trafficking. The collective complaints will be considered through an own-instance investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman Complaints and Investigations Unit and a systemic report with recommendations will be drafted for the attention of the relevant city departments and entities, viz., the City of Johannesburg Department of Human Settlements as well as the Group Forensic and Investigations Service (GFIS) for further investigation of the alleged criminal activities.

Issued by Acting Deputy Director: Communication and Media Ipeleng Mtwa