A private East London caregiver who had been caring for a 99-year-old woman said the profession was a calling, not a job.
Connie Jordaan, 39, was reacting to news that Ncediswa Mkenkcele, 40, a former caregiver at the Lily Kirchmann Complex had appeared in court earlier this week on charges of assault.
She is alleged to have assaulted 84-year-old Hope Shepherd at the Berea-based care home.
Jordaan was employed as a caregiver by former Clarendon High School teacher Leonie Little at the Fairlands Home for the Aged.
Little died last month aged 99.
“I liked her right away. I loved her like my own grandmother,” Jordaan said.
“You have to listen to what old people say; it is all about their needs. As caregivers we are there to look after them, not hurt them,” said Jordaan.
Mkenkcele made a second, brief appearance in court this week following her arrest in March.
She is due to appear in court again on June 5.
Footage from a spy camera placed in Shepherd’s room by her daughter Bernice Robertson shows a caregiver slapping, punching and even kicking the frail woman.
Mkenkcele resigned soon after the footage surfaced while Shepherd has since been removed from the complex.
Jordaan described the assault as “frightening and shocking”.
She said she could not see herself laying her hands on a defenceless woman.
“You’ve got to have passion for the job. You need to love what you do. It’s not just anybody who can be a caregiver,” she said.
Jordaan said communication was a key factor in the job.
Another private caregiver, Ronel Crous, said the job was demanding, and it needed patience.
Crous cares for a stroke victim, wheelchair-bound George Lord, who is 71.
“You get people who attend courses in caregiving and get qualifications after that but those papers have no meaning if you don’t love people,” Crous said.
Lord said families should consider private caregivers before deciding to send their loved ones to retirement homes.
He said he was aware of cases where caregivers deliberately made their patients overdose on medication to get them to sleep all day.
“There are bad people out there,” he said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
Caregivers ’need passion for the job’
Connie Jordaan, 39, was reacting to news that Ncediswa Mkenkcele, 40, a former caregiver at the Lily Kirchmann Complex had appeared in court earlier this week on charges of assault.
She is alleged to have assaulted 84-year-old Hope Shepherd at the Berea-based care home.
Jordaan was employed as a caregiver by former Clarendon High School teacher Leonie Little at the Fairlands Home for the Aged.
Little died last month aged 99.
“I liked her right away. I loved her like my own grandmother,” Jordaan said.
“You have to listen to what old people say; it is all about their needs. As caregivers we are there to look after them, not hurt them,” said Jordaan.
Mkenkcele made a second, brief appearance in court this week following her arrest in March.
She is due to appear in court again on June 5.
Footage from a spy camera placed in Shepherd’s room by her daughter Bernice Robertson shows a caregiver slapping, punching and even kicking the frail woman.
Mkenkcele resigned soon after the footage surfaced while Shepherd has since been removed from the complex.
Jordaan described the assault as “frightening and shocking”.
She said she could not see herself laying her hands on a defenceless woman.
“You’ve got to have passion for the job. You need to love what you do. It’s not just anybody who can be a caregiver,” she said.
Jordaan said communication was a key factor in the job.
Another private caregiver, Ronel Crous, said the job was demanding, and it needed patience.
Crous cares for a stroke victim, wheelchair-bound George Lord, who is 71.
“You get people who attend courses in caregiving and get qualifications after that but those papers have no meaning if you don’t love people,” Crous said.
Lord said families should consider private caregivers before deciding to send their loved ones to retirement homes.
He said he was aware of cases where caregivers deliberately made their patients overdose on medication to get them to sleep all day.
“There are bad people out there,” he said. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za
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