Social Development
Question by:
Hon Wendy Kaizer-Philander
Answered by:
Hon Jaco Londt
Question Number:
22
Question Body:
(a) Regarding the Elder Abuse Helpline, what is its (i) current capacity, (ii) staffing, (iii) operating hours, (iv) call volume and (v) average response times, (b) what follow-up mechanisms are in place to ensure that reported cases are resolved effectively and (c) what data is available about the (i) number and (ii) outcomes of reported cases over the past two years?
Answer Body:
- The Department gets referral cases through a National Elder Abuse Helpline 0800 101 110, managed by TAFTA, a non-profit organisation based in Durban. All cases reported through the Elder Abuse Helpline are then referred to respective Provincial Departments of Social Development Offices. Also, there is a Careline 0800 333 231 managed by Age in Action. Both National Elder Abuse Helpline by TAFTA and Careline by Age-in Action are not funded by the Department and all are NPO run. The Department therefore does not have access to additional requested information. We have reached out to our national counterparts in the Department of Social Development for the information.
However, the Department subsidizes Age-in-Action with 6 social work posts for the provision of training and information sharing sessions on elder abuse; investigation of all reported elder abuse cases; psycho-social support services and support for the elder abuse line.
Date:
Friday, May 30, 2025
