I am a 50-year-old woman from a village called Roerfontein in Sekgosese area in Limpopo. Towards the end of 2019 we took my grandmother and her older sister to Vutlhari Old Age Home and Hospice. 

At home there was no one to take care of my grandmother who was 81 years old then. I can’t remember how old her sister was, but she also had no one to take care of her. She was partially blind which is why we took her to that place. 

I did not think much of it when the owner took my grandmother’s South Africa Social Security Agency (SASSA) card which her old age grant was paid into, back then it was over R1000. (The older person’s grant is paid to people over 60 years). 

I thought the money would help buy her toiletries and other things that she would need. For us as a family this was a good move because there would be someone looking after her all the time. 

At first, we did not see anything amiss because we would make arrangements with the centre manager before visiting. 

From the outside the centre looked like an abandoned house, the paint was peeling off from the walls, some windows were broken and the roof was damaged. However, when we asked about these conditions we were told that the centre is working towards renovating the place and the rooms were different and comfortable for the elderly people. 

However, every time my family visited my grandmother and her sister, they were always miserable and they would be very emotional. We thought it was because they were old and maybe they missed their homes. 

Surprise visit to the centre 

One day, I went to the centre without calling for an appointment. I caught them red-handed because they did not know that I was coming. They were shocked to see me and told me to wait in the visitors’ waiting area. I sat there for a couple of minutes, I guess they were trying to clean my grandmother and make her presentable as they always did. 

While I was walking around, I noticed that the place looked like a pigsty. It was not conducive for elderly people.

As my grandmother walked towards the entrance, I broke down and cried. It looked like she had soiled herself and had traces of faeces on her legs and dress. Seeing her like that broke my heart into pieces because her SASSA grant card was kept by the centre. 

She cried like a baby saying she no longer wanted to stay there. She wants to go and die at home. 

Her sister did not look good at all, she looked frail and sick. I decided there and then that the place was not good for them. 

It was almost a year since she was admitted to the centre. We took them out and brought them home. My grandmother’s sister did not live long with us, she died six months after leaving Vulthari. Apparently she was not even taking her treatment for hypertension. We lost my grandmother in 2022 and it was comforting to know that we managed to save her from those living conditions. 

That place is rotten with no professional nurses to look after the elderly people. It should be closed to save those vulnerable old people. – Health-e News