The Association for the Aged

Welcome to TAFTA – The Association of the Aged

Here to help you!

TAFTA (The Association for the Aged) is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO 002093) dedicated to the alleviation of distress and the promotion of the welfare and happiness of aged person living in the Durban area.

Click here for a full list of the areas we serve.

If you are over 60 and in need of help – with anything from applying for a State pension to accommodation or advice about services and facilities for the aged – please contact us on tel. 031 332 3721. We make no charge for any Social Work consultation or visit, and if we can’t help you ourselves, we can put you in touch with other people and organisations who can!

It is our policy to do the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of people, with no thought of who deserves help, but only of who needs help.

We encourage the elderly to live as independent members of the community in their own homes for as long as possible – and provide a number of support services to the elderly and their families in order to achieve this goal.

Donate because we make no charge for Social Work services, and payment for most other services is on a sliding scale according to income, we rely heavily on support from the community including: 

Financial contributions from local businesses and individuals

• Gifts in kind from the corporate sector
• Unwanted clothing, bed linen, furniture, etc for sale in our second hand shop
• Volunteers
• Bequests
• Promotion of Access to Information Act Manual [download pdf]

Welcome to TAFTA – The Association of the Aged

Here to help you!

TAFTA (The Association for the Aged) is a registered non-profit organisation (NPO 002093) dedicated to the alleviation of distress and the promotion of the welfare and happiness of aged person living in the Durban area.

Click here for a full list of the areas we serve.

If you are over 60 and in need of help – with anything from applying for a State pension to accommodation or advice about services and facilities for the aged – please contact us on tel. 031 332 3721. We make no charge for any Social Work consultation or visit, and if we can’t help you ourselves, we can put you in touch with other people and organisations who can!

It is our policy to do the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of people, with no thought of who deserves help, but only of who needs help.

We encourage the elderly to live as independent members of the community in their own homes for as long as possible – and provide a number of support services to the elderly and their families in order to achieve this goal.

Donate because we make no charge for Social Work services, and payment for most other services is on a sliding scale according to income, we rely heavily on support from the community including: 

Financial contributions from local businesses and individuals

• Gifts in kind from the corporate sector
• Unwanted clothing, bed linen, furniture, etc for sale in our second hand shop
• Volunteers
• Bequests
• Promotion of Access to Information Act Manual [download pdf]

TAFTA offers the following services:

Accommodation for the elderly

TAFTA’s goal is to help elderly men and women remain independent for as long as possible – and services such as Home Based Care and Meals on Wheels are designed to provide the support that makes this possible.

However, sometimes it becomes necessary for a person to move into a protective environment where they can receive friendly support, including 24-hour nursing care if necessary.

TAFTA owns several retirement complexes, homes and blocks of flats, which are available for people over the age of 60 to rent or purchase on a life right basis.

Kindly note that currently all the Homes and flats have waiting lists of various lengths.

General Requirements for TAFTA accommodation

Applicants must be 60 years and older, and must have been a permanent resident in Durban for at least one year.

Applicants should have a minimum income of a State Pension or a Disability Grant.

Meals on Wheels

If you cannot manage to cook for yourself, a ready-to-eat midday meal – consisting of soup, main course and desert – can be delivered to your home, Monday to Friday. Where essential, special arrangements can be made to cover the weekend.

A nominal charge, based on income, is made for Meals on Wheels.

Lunches at very affordable prices are also served at the following service centres:

Anna Conradie Service Centre, South Beach – Tel. 031 337-0163

Mary Asher Service Centre, CBD – Tel. 031 337-7769

Primrose Service Centre, Wentworth – Tel. 031 468-5691

Ray Hulett Service Centre, CBD – Tel 031 304-7390

Oldfield Service Centre, Bellair – Tel. 031 465-9268

If you do not have either of these, our social worker can help you apply. 

Home Based Care Service

For elderly people who want to continue living independently in their own homes, or in one of our residential buildings, but who find it difficult to cope with cleaning, shopping, laundry and even bathing and dressing – TAFTA offers a team of well-trained Home Carers who will call in as necessary to help with:

• personal hygiene, e.g. washing, bathing, dressing
• making beds and tidying rooms
• cleaning, dusting and personal laundry
• washing and changing linen
• shopping
• issue of daily medication (only available in TAFTA buildings)

Charges for Home Care are assessed according to income.

If you or an elderly relative require the assistance of one of our Home Carers, please contact our Social Services department on tel. 031 332-3721. A Social Worker will visit to asses your needs and discuss the service.

Assessment is also done to determine whether a client needs full time care in our frail care units, or will manage in one of our residential buildings.

Full Time Home Care Services

If you need full time help, you may wish to employ one of TAFTA’s trained multi disciplinary workers on a weekly basis.

Training is carried out by Flo-line, and includes domestic work, bed bathing, lifting from bed into the bath and care of pressure areas. Basic cookery is also taught.

Our Home Based Care Department will assist prospective employers by conducting the interview and discussing duties and salaries.  We also assist with any problems that may arise during employment.

However, the contract is directly between the worker and the employer. interview and discussing duties and salaries. We also assist with any problems that may arise during employment. However, the contract is directly between the worker and the employer.

Social Services

Our qualified and registered social workers are trained and equipped to advise you and your family on a variety of issues related to the aged. If you are not able to come into our offices yourself, please telephone 031 332-3721 and ask for the Intake Social Worker, who will arrange for one of the social workers to visit you at home.

When you have discussed your needs and requirements, your social worker can assist in one or more of the following ways:

Give you confidential guidance and counsel on any difficulties you may be experiencing.

Offer you assistance and advice on budgeting and management of finances.

Provide material help (in special circumstances) in the form of clothing, blankets, food parcels and essential household items. Charges are on a sliding scale according to income.

Inform you about the variety of accommodation available to the aged in and around Durban, including frail care and assisted living.

Arrange various services to help alleviate loneliness – in some cases a weekly telephone call or perhaps a volunteer to call on a friendly visit.

Inform you of TAFTA’s service centres, social clubs and support groups.

Refer you to the Home Based Care Service and/or Meals on Wheels.

Refer you to other organisations and persons in Durban for assistance.

There is no charge for this consultation/visit.

Keeping active … Making friends

For many elderly people – especially those who are fit and active – loneliness is the greatest problem. Our social clubs and service centres play an important role in providing a safe place to meet new friends, enjoy a good meal at a very affordable price, and participate in activities such as bingo, bridge, calligraphy, dancing and handcrafts.

Equipment Hire

If you are in need of assistive devices, you may hire the following from TAFTA at a nominal fee:

• wheelchairs
• walking frames or tripods
• commodes
• bedpans
• rubber sheeting, air rings and sheepskin bed covers
• bath/shower seats
• back rests

Please contact the Social Services Department on 332-3721to arrange for the loan of assistive devices. 

Cook ‘n Care

Cook ‘N Care caters for all TAFTA facilities together with outside clients from Amanzimtoti to Phoenix from a modern processing unit near Falcon Park in New Germany. The unit was opened in June 1996 and has been successful in providing on average 69, 000 meals per month.

The unit is managed by a very competent Catering Manager who, together with her team provide a wide ranging menu, based on a six week cycle to ensure daily dietary requirements are met.

Other Welfare Organisations or schools are invited to contact Cook ‘N Care on (031 705-6661) for more information about our service.

Looking for answers?

TAFTA offers a range of programmes – such as pre-retirement seminars, financial planning, information about the ageing process, elder abuse, skills training and information for family members who are caring for aged relatives, stroke patients or those with Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information, kindly contact the social agency Intake on 031 332-3721.

At TAFTA we offer you the support you need:

Get support

Whether you are an older person coming to terms with illness or loss of mobility – or someone caring for an elderly or disabled relative – meeting and talking to others in similar circumstances can be enormously helpful and encouraging.

TAFTA currently runs support groups for people who have suffered a stroke, and their caregivers – as well as an Alzheimer’s group.

You can find more information on these and other conditions which may affect older people by following the links alongside, or contact us on 031 332-3721.  

Here at TAFTA we reach out to the community

Amaoti in Inanda is one of the poorest communities on our doorstep … a community hard hit by the AIDS pandemic, which has robbed a generation of children of their parents, and shifted the burden of child care onto the frail shoulders of elderly grandparents.

TAFTA’s response was to create a unique development project the Entokozweni project , comprising a hall, training and resource centre, kitchen outlet, second hand shop, after school care center, sewing  and craft room, 16 cottages(including 2 cluster homes accommodating 14 children), 2 assisted living units.

The Centre includes a pension pay-out point which operates three days a month and serves over two thousand pensioners  in the district. There is also a service centre operating five days a week providing exercise classes, fellowship meetings and meals for pensioners and children.

Included as part of project is the support group for grandmothers, Home Based Care programme, and Food Gardening Project. Ten trained caregivers currently visit 40 house-bound elderly and ill patients to assist with problems such as stroke, epilepsy, high blood pressure and diabetes.

We have recently started a chicken farming project. Unemployed community members received intensive training on chicken farming.

For more information, contact Sandra Govender the Senior Social Work Manager, the Community Development Manager on tel. 031 518-7989 or 031 332-3721.

Here are ways that you can assist:

Because we will all be old some day …

… it makes sense to get involved in issues affecting the aged, and in finding solutions and developing services that ensure the ‘golden years’ are happy, comfortable and safe for all.

Volunteer

Regardless of your age, we welcome you as a volunteer, and offer a number of different ways for you to help – from visiting lonely old people to selling raffle tickets, helping sort second hand clothing and other items for our shop to admin tasks such as typing.

Send a message

If you can’t help in person, why not use our website facility to post a message of support to one of our lonely residents. Your caring is also a gift!

Donate online -Make a donation

Monetary gifts are always greatly appreciated and put to immediate use where the need is greatest – from subsidising nutritious meals for a pensioner who’s struggling to make ends meet, to maintaining our old age homes.

Make your gift online by credit card through our secure facility … deposit directly into our bank account … sign a monthly debit order … or post off a cheque or postal order.

Gifts in Kind

We also appreciate gift in kind – such as paint, furniture, bedlinen and towels and food … as well as second hand clothing and household goods for our charity shop, Granny’s Attic.

Leave a legacy

Including a charitable bequest to TAFTA in your Will is a way of ensuring your compassion and care for elderly folk continues into the future – and that you will always be remembered with affection and gratitude.