DURBAN - The Elders Voice KZN founder Joanne Herbst is starting to feel as though “a dream is slipping through our fingers”, now that they have less than a week to raise a little over R200 000 in order for them to pay the deposit for their forever home.
Herbst said so far they had raised R267 000 of the half a million rand deposit that was needed, and still needed about R227 000.
She said they had found a property worth R8.4 million in Pennington, south of Durban.
The property would be able to house all of their elderly. It had room for expansion and would allow them to start sustainability projects like growing their own products and have space for the elderly to do their crafts.
Herbst said at the moment they were renting out seven properties, one building in Montclair, and five flats.
She said getting the Pennington property would eliminate a lot of the financial burden they were currently operating under.
“Getting that property would mean we no longer needed to rent. Rent alone increases every year,” Herbst said.
“We’ve been asking for help since February 9, but the response has died down and now despair is starting to set in.”
Herbst said they were not looking for a handout, but were looking for people to contribute so they could continue to help more old people -- and for the next generation of elderly who would end up in their care.
“I’m fearful and frightened,” Herbst said about the prospect of losing out on the property.
She said the Elders Voice has been operating since 2016, and they catered for the elderly who fell outside the basket and could not afford old-age home fees. Their elderly were South African Social Security Agency beneficiaries of the old age grant.
With the little that they had they provided the 185 elderly residents, they had five meals a day and 47 staff members to keep the Elders Voice running.
Herbst said they were a registered non-profit organisation, were also registered with the South African Revenue Service, and they were affiliated with the Department of Social Development. They were also compliant with the Department of Health, and they had a board of directors.
In a video she posted on the Elders Voice Facebook page on Monday, a visibly emotional Herbst poured her heart out.
In the video, Herbst said they still needed R227 000. In the past four days, they had only collected R3 400.
She said they had less than a week to get the balance.
“We did phenomenally well in the beginning, we were on track. I’m starting to feel a bit of despair, feel that uhm, a dream is slipping through our fingers,” Herbst said.
“I’m scared, I’m fearful. There’s not much more I can do. I’ve begged, I’ve pleaded, I’ve knocked on every door I can… I’m just, I’m finished guys.”
“This is not for me, it’s for the elderly we look after.”
However, Herbst said she would not give up.
According to the description of the property on an estate agency website, the property has 30 bedrooms, 10 reception rooms, 11 bathrooms, 12 kitchens, one garage, security, a pool, three hectares of land and a children’s play area conference room.
The resort can accommodate up to 100 visitors. Each chalet has its own bathroom, braai area, TV set with local channels, and an equipped kitchen.
A lodge is set up away from all the other units and the main building. It consists of a kitchen, an open-plan roofed area and a sundeck, and accommodates up to 14 people in 3 bedrooms. The bungalow sleeps up to 22 people on bunk beds. The cottage accommodates only two. There are eight log cabins which have communal ablution facilities, shared with a number of camp-sites.
Daily News