Infrastructure, equity and the elderly
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/sajg.v5i1.67Abstract
Equitable infrastructure provision in the less-developed world requires recognition of the needs of marginalized groups, such as the elderly. This paper explores issues relating to the use of household energy sources by the elderly in a rural village in the Western Cape province of South Africa, and focusses on perceptions of and barriers to electricity uptake. Whilst poor elderly persons are frequently involved in child care, and together with the young suffer most the negative health effects of indoor air pollution, their access to electricity is limited by constraints including affordability, status and custom. Electrification is considered by the South African Government of National Unity to be a vital development intervention and employment creator; yet the elderly tend to be excluded from the concrete benefits of development, and their construction and commentaries on energy issues often contain a critique of infrastructural development and the accompanying processes of social change. Rather than dismiss the elderlys attitudes towards electrification, it is important to look deeper into what their commentary tells us about missed opportunities, to ensure that development brings with it equitable access and outcomes to categories of people in need.References
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Barnes, J. & Yach, D. 1991. A survey of health aspects of black elderly living in a settled and a newly developed township in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area. Parow: Medical Research Council, Urbanisation and Health National Programme.
Bradshaw, D., Dorrington,R. & Sitas, F. 1992. The level of mortality in South Africa in 1985 - what does it tell us about health? South African Medical Journal, 82: 237-240.
Brindley, M, 1982. The role of old women in Zulu society. M.A. thesis. KwaZulu: University of Zululand.
Chinkanda, E. 1989. Care of the aged - attitudes of urban blacks. In: Feireira, M., Gilfis,L.S. & Moller, V. (Eds) Ageing in South Africa: social research papers. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, pp. 143-157.
Community Health Research Group (CHRG). 1995. Electrification and health: the interface between energy, development and public health, Parow: Medical Research Council.
Cross, C., Bekker, S. & Broomberger, N, 1992. Rural poverty in South Africa: a 1992 study using secondary sources. Durban: University of Natal, Centre for Social and Development Studies.
Doppegieter, J., Du Toit. J. & Van Vuuren, E. 1992, Energy futures 1992. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, Institute for Futures Research.
Dubazana, H. 1989. The effects of social change on the coping behaviour of elderly blacks in a rural environment. In: Ferreira, M., Gillis, L.S. & Mler, V. (Eds). Ageing in South Africa: social research papers. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, pp. 36-46.
Eckert, J., Greyling, A. & Seventer, D. 1993. The macro-economics of electrification: a review and extension of existing South African research. Report prepared for the National Electrification Forum, South Africa.
Ferreira, M., Mler, V., Prinsloo, F. & Gillis, L.S. 1992. Multidimensional survey of elderly South Africans: key findings. Cape Town: HSRC/UCT Centre for Gerontology.
Gillis, L, 1989. The coloured elderly in Cape Town: a psychosocial, psychiatric and medical community survey. In: Ferreira, M., Gillis, L.S. & Mpller, V. (Eds) Ageing in South Africa: social research papers. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Councit, pp, 112-120.
Hofmeyr, B. & Mostert, W. 1989. Demographic ageing of the South African population:past (1945-1985) and expected(1985-2035) trends. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council.
Hofmeyr, I. 1994. Farmworker families: towards adequate and equitable energy provision. M.Phil. thesis. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Lund, F. 1993. State social benefits in South Africa, International Social Security Review, 46(1): 5-25.
Mler, V, & Devey, R. 1995. Black South African families with older members: opportunities and constraints. Southern African Journal of Gerontology, 4(2): 3-10.
Ross, F. 1995. Umntu ngumntu ngabanve abantu: social support networks of black families. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, Co-operative Programme on Marriage and Family Life.
Schoombee, G. & Mantzaris, E. 1989. Age as a factor affecting the attitudes of South African Indians towards parents and older people in general. In: Ferreira, M. Gillis, L.S. & Moller, V. (Eds) Ageing in South Africa: social research papers. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council, pp. 168-177.
South African Institute of Race Relations (SA1RR). 1994. Race Relations Survey 1993/1994. Johannesburg: SAIRR.
Spiegel, A. 1990. Changing continuities: experiencing and interpreting history, population movement and material differentiation in Matatiele, Transkei. Ph.D. thesis. Cape Town: University of Cape Town, Department of Social Anthropology.
Van Gass, 1.1993. Nature and determinants of energy and appliance requirements. Report prepared for the National Electrification Forum, Working Group for the end-use of energy and the environment. Synthesis report No.WGEU03.
Van Horen, C. & Eberhard, A. 1993. Energy poverty in South Africa: widening access to basic energy services. Report for the SALDRU World Bank project for statistics on living standards and development. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Viljoen, R. & Cross, S. 1993. Towards a rural electrification policy for the Independent Development Trust. Durban: University of Natal.
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1996-04-01
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