South Africa’s Older People Lack Basic Care and Support

South Africa is failing to provide hundreds of thousands of older people access to basic care and support services, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Many face risks to their physical well-being and safety, and experience profound distress and fear at the prospect of being forced to live, and die, in an institution. The 68-page report, “‘This Government is Failing Me Too’: South Africa Compounds Legacy of Apartheid for Older People,” details the government’s failure to effectively carry out the Older Persons Act, a post-apartheid law that guarantees the rights of older people and provides for community- and home-based care and support services. These services would enable older people to continue to live in their own homes with the support they are entitled to.