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DW
Rejected by their own families, elderly people are forced to live on the streets or in shelters – and the situation is getting worse. In 2016 alone, police recorded hundreds of cases of crimes committed against older people.
In 2014, the Mozambican parliament approved the country’s first law promoting and protecting of the rights of the elderly. Although the law criminalises families, the community and the state for violating these rights, many of the elderly continue to be mistreated.
Take the case of Nina Assumany. At the age of 68, she survives by selling fruit on the streets of Maxixe in Inhambane province.
Five years ago, she was forced to leave her home in the Morrumbene district after being mistreated by her daughter-in-law, who accused her of witchcraft. “She and my son ran away from me and I was sick,” she says.
She says her son did nothing to protect her from her daughter-in-law, but she holds no grudges. Today, she spends the nights in the home of a host family. She receives no support – neither from her son nor from the government.
Witchcraft accusations
Nina Assumany says her case is not unique. A neighbour of hers was accused of witchcraft by her stepsons. She was mistreated and taken to a place far away from the neighbourhood, where she has no family and no support.
Accusing the elderly of witchcraft is increasingly frequent in Mozambique, with family members the most common protagonists, Rute Samuel, president of the Gupuanana Association, an organisation dedicated to the protection of the elderly, explains.
“It is mainly family members who despise their elders, they say they are sorcerers,” says Samuel, who has been working to publicise the 2014 law in Inhambane for four years.
“It is not good to discriminate the elderly because they are the pillars our society is built on, and the custodians of our traditions,” she says.
António Madureira, 71, lives in Inhambane, but does not get the government’s monthly old age pension. As for accusations of witchcraft, he says he has no doubt: “There is no evidence that the elderly practice sorcery, nor can those who make the accusations prove it, so it is just a myth that is now surfacing.”
Pensions are not for everyone
Vasco José, 63, survives by working as a domestic in Maxixe. He too does not receive a pension, because, like so many of the elderly, he is not on the official roll.
“Most of the elderly are not in the register recognised by social services, this is the problem,” he says. This is especially the case in rural areas, he adds.
The Mozambican government has been helping registered elderly with a basic food basket and a survival allowance of 300 meticais (about 5 euros) a month. The selection is made by a local agent who identifies the most vulnerable elderly people in communities.
Esperança Pacule, representative of the National Institute of Social Action (INAS) in Inhambane, admits however that, to date, it has not been possible to cover all the elderly.
“The liaison figure between INAS and the community must be a person who lives in the community where we have appropriate actions, because, as we know, there are vulnerable people who need support,” she says.
According to data from the last, 2007 population census, the elderly in Inhambane province comprise 10 percent of the population, and most live in absolute poverty in rural areas.
In 2016, just over 9,000 elderly people were covered by three social programs, Pacule says. “488 bedridden old people were helped; 8,578 received the basic social subsidy, and 30 attended the Massinga old age centre.” There are two frequent reasons for the parlous condition of the elderly: “Accusations of witchcraft and abandonment by the family itself.”
Change mentalities
But not all cases of abuse of the elderly are reported. The provincial police command recorded few cases in 2016, according to the police spokesman in Inhambane, Simeão Machava: of 82 cases of violence against the elderly, only 78 were sent to the public prosecutor.
But changing mindsets is not easy. Lack of support has made it difficult to raise awareness and publicise the law that protects the elderly, Rute Samuel says.
“We have many difficulties,” she admits, confessing that she sometimes gets to the point of using her own money to help her clients. Put simply, the elderly need food, clothing and money, she says.
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