Deputy Speaker, the ACDP is grieved by the senseless and barbaric attacks directed at our elderly in a number of provinces. In September, there were reports of six grandmothers who were raped in less than two months in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. A 70-year- old Mandeni woman was unashamedly raped in front of her three grandchildren. In Obanjeni, eDokodweni, a 66-year-old grandmother was allegedly raped by her 27-year-old grandson. In August, an 82-year-old grandmother and a 94-year-old woman were raped in KwaSwayimane, in their own homes where they should be safe.
As a result of the increasing number of these rapes of grandmothers, the provincial social development department in KwaZulu-Natal has resolved to construct adult daycare centres in an attempt to protect grandmothers from rape. The ACDP asks: Why should grandmothers live in fear when they have a government whose fundamental responsibility it is to protect them and all other citizens in the country?
The ACDP believes that our grandmothers deserve to live their last days on earth in peace, tranquility and security. We therefore appeal to government to do much more in order to ensure that our grandmothers live in peace. Thank you.