While thousands of panicked residents queued for hours to secure basic essentials in the wake of looting, for Durban’s elderly and frail the prospect of replenishing supplies has been dismal.
The dire situation prompted urgent appeals from old-age homes for donations of tea, milk, bread, pasta and eggs to tide them over for a few days.
Femada Shamam, CEO of The Association for the Aged (Tafta), which houses about 1,500 pensioners in 13 residences across Durban, said the possibility of food insecurity invoked deep concern and stress among their residents and staff.
“The unrest that we have seen in Durban and surrounding areas has severely impacted on the supply chain of food that is accessible to our residents.
“We have been deeply concerned about our residents. We did put out an appeal to the community and thankfully people of Durban have come out to support us.
“While we are aware that some of the shops do have some stock, our older people are just not able to stand in those long queues to access essentials.
“As far as possible we are trying to get food to our older people’s units. We are also mindful that the country is in adjusted level four, which means additional restrictions have been placed on the organisation in terms of movement in and out of the buildings.”
Shamam said the unrest had also taken an emotional toll on the elderly.
“I think everybody has been really concerned about their safety, but also the safety of their family members.
“That has been really traumatic for many of the elders. Knowing that their loved ones were in communities that were impacted and that their family members may possibly not have food creates a huge level of anxiety among everybody.
“The community has responded to our appeals for basic food items. We have been receiving donations and our teams have been making sure we prepare hampers for our residents to ensure they have some food to tide them over for the next couple of days.
“We are also liaising with other partners to see how we can sustain the food supply until such time as there is some kind of normality in terms of food arriving in Durban.”
Eighty-year-old Links Moodley said he was thankful Tafta staff had supported stressed residents and had been patient and tolerant in this “very, very tiring time”.
“The unrest was in the making for a very long time. We are one of the most unequal societies in the world.”
Priscilla Shezi, a resident at Tafta since 2018, condemned the unrest.
“It’s really depressing. People are dying and doing all those evil things that God does not permit. It’s a horrible experience.”
It’s really depressing. People are dying and doing all those evil things that God does not permit. It’s a horrible experience.
— Priscilla Shezi, Tafta resident
Another resident, Maureen Hunter, said: “I’ve been so down and depressed, wondering when this is all going to end. We trust we will be able to live our normal lives as we used to.”
In Chatsworth, south of Durban, community members have rallied together to make piles of rotis — an Indian flatbread — as a substitute for bread, of which there has been a shortage since unrest gripped the province last week.
The Mandela Youth Centre coordinated efforts to supply rotis to RK Khan hospital and Aryan Benevolent Home, which houses the elderly and children.
The centre said in a Facebook post: “When they called out: ‘there’s no bread’ ... we said ‘let them eat roti’.
“And we kicked off a heart warming revolution. We had happy people anxiously awaiting delivery.”
The home enlisted the roti-making skills of members of the youth centre, bikers, other organisations and a “few roti-making mothers” to make more than 500 flatbreads in a day.
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