Home for Knysna’s elderly again embroiled in financial woes
Woe is Vermont Old Age Home, as its financial crisis seems to continue unabated. Late last month, the centre publicised its financial predicament after Knysna Municipality switched off the home’s electricity owing to the failure of management to fully pay their municipal account.
Situated in Hornlee, Vermont accommodates more than 50 senior citizens. Their due to the municipality was an amount of R44,000 of which they could only pay R36,000 -they had apparently offered this amount in two instalments: R20,000 (which the municipality had allegedly turned down) to be paid on top of the R16,000 they had already deposited.
Centre staff described the municipality’s actions as “unsympathetic”, as they have asthma and ameer patients who “need electricity to survive”.
Fortunately, the centre managed to scrape together funds to pay the account in full on the same day, and the electricity was switched back on.
The facility is no stranger to such situations. During Hendrik Blaau’s tenure as centre manager back in 2015, Vermont owed the municipality more than R 100,000 – an amount which they struggled to pay and could only accumulate by making the elderly residents dig deeper into their pockets.
The majority of residents only survive on government pension fund grants, so really struggled when the rent was raised to R 1,000 per month.
By February this year, the centre’s board of trustees suspended and ultimately fired its former centre manager, on the grounds of not following protocol, dishonesty and misconduct, among other charges.
Blaau was replaced by Mi-eta Tieties, who is currently serving as acting centre manager. In July the centre was at the centre of another scandal with its residents attempting a hunger strike in sympathy with the homes caregivers, who were said to be the epitome of “overworked and underpaid”.
Some of the workers told the media at the time that they had not received an increase or annual bonuses for three years. Despite these financial crises, the home continues to provide a roof over the heads of its residents.
Responding to the question as to what brought the centre into this dire situation, newly-elected Vermont chairman Warrick Langisa said he could not at this stage comment as to what might have brought about the current crisis.
“New board members were elected on November 28 during the centre’s AGM. It’s only now we are going to sit in meetings to find out what went wrong and try to bring about solutions to the problem,” said Langisa.