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FORMER Elonwabeni Old Age Home board members Mzukisi Siphunzi and Mzwandile Dlaminitold the Feverthat they are not responsible for the problems that the institution currently faces.
They blamed the staff and the community for wrongly interfering with the operations of the home. They showed Fever their letters of resignation as board members, asking whoever was interested to take control of the home.
Before resigning, Siphunzi held the role of treasurer and Dlamini was the home’s chairperson.
“People have been accusing us of having a hand in the collapse of the old age home however, when we took the reigns as board members, there was already a crisis of late payments of staff which was caused by issues with our financial supporters.
“All financial supporters were paying late and, as a result, salaries of staff were being delayed,” said Dlamini. He denied allegations that some residents sometimes went to sleep without food and slept in the dark due to the board failing to buy electricity. He confirmed that 15 social grant cards of residents had gone missing and an amount of over R21 000 had gone missing earlier in the year. He said the matter of the missing cards was being investigated by SAPS.
“I enjoyed working at the home with elderly people and I wish it success,” said Siphunzi.
In August last year, nine community members were elected as board members. Six of them have since resigned.
Community members of Bhongweni and surrounding areas held a meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss a way forward after hearing that the board members had resigned.
