South Africa's Older People Lack Basic Care, Support

(Johannesburg, June 27, 2023) – 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.