Council and Management
With over 60 years of reliable and caring service behind us, our Council and Management team is geared to meeting the challenges of an ever changing social and economic environment.
As the responsibility of caring for an ageing population threatens to overwhelm the percentage of economically active South Africans, new and better solutions need to be explored and developed in order to ensure a happy and secure future for older persons in society.
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
The Tafta team under the leadership of CEO Femada Shamam navigated through their objectives set, as part of Tafta’s 2025 Strategy, and even though they again faced adverse conditions, they still continued in their pursuit of achieving their goals. I am heartened by these efforts as ‘Care and Support’ have been placed at the centre of their strategy, ensuring it remained as a compass for delivering excellent service; planning for the future of care, and lobbying and advocacy efforts towards an inclusive and age friendly society.
The organisation had an operating budget of R80.8 million with a deficit of over R28.8 million to meet.
Donor funding decreased in the past year and fundraising efforts did not meet the deficit noting an undoubtable shift to online giving. The organisation, guided by its Council members continued to find ways to adapt, reduce expenses and manage its investments to ensure it met the gap in the deficit.
The non-profit sector and in particular those serving the elderly continued to experience the challenges of
limited subsidisation of frail care homes, cost of care for older persons, exorbitant utilities costs at organisations, health care access and inadequacy of the old age government grant to provide for older persons. It is through partnerships, collaboration and the local and international participation of the organisation that lobbying and advocacy opportunities are leveraged to address these challenges and provide a voice for older people.
My gratitude goes out to the Tafta team for their daily efforts and commitment, the volunteer Council, Executive Committee, and sub-committees that continued to provide sound governance, advice, and counsel. Your guidance to our executive staff and, in fact, all our Tafta staff members, is recognised and greatly appreciated. We remain indebted to you.
In this last year we sadly bid farewell to Council members; Dr S Ramlall and Mr M Barry. While it is difficult to attract volunteer Council members, the following members were appointed and welcomed; Dr MA Jarvis, Mr A Trikamjee, Mr M Wosiyana and Mrs B Bannister. We thank you in advance for your time, guidance, and support.
Sincerely,
Wicus Jacobs
Tafta Council Chairman
Wicus Jacobs – Chairman
Tafta Council Members
| Mr JJ Jacobs | Honorary Chairman |
| Mrs C Shandu | Honorary Vice-Chairman |
| Mr D Warmback | Second Vice-Chairman |
| Mr C Barford | Honorary Treasurer |
| Mrs A Rampersad | Secretary to the Council |
| Mrs NM Sithole | Member |
| Mrs ZZ Ngcamu | Member |
| Dr MA Jarvis | Member |
| Mr A Trikamjee | Member |
| Mr M Wosiyana | Member |
| Mrs B Bannister | Member |
Key staff
| Femada Shamam | Chief Executive Officer |
| Nita Sewpersad | Chief Financial Officer |
| Bernard Courtois | Divisional Manager: Support Services |
| Marshnee Naidoo | Divisional Manager: Admin and HR |
| Susanne Ramsunder | Divisional Manager: Fundraising, Marketing and PR |
| Yoshina Kistensamy | Divisional Manager: Operations |
Femada Shamam – Chief Executive Officer
MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
The 2021/2022 financial year presented many opportunities and challenges as the Tafta team pushed forward with a recovery mindset, following the devastating impact of the first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic during the previous year.
Much to our dismay, the Covid-19 narrative prevailed over this period, as Tafta experienced the third and fourth waves. Sadly, this resulted in nine fatalities. However, the positive impact of the vaccine
rollout also limited the fatalities during this time.
The July 2021 riots and looting in KwaZulu-Natal further impacted on the lives of the elders in our care, as the supply chain for goods and services was severely disrupted. In addition to the massive infrastructure damage, the fear, anxiety and sense of helplessness experienced by all was yet another hurdle to overcome. However, in the face of adversity, we have witnessed the tremendous resilience of the human spirit, as elders, staff and community members pooled their resources and their energy to help each other in a proud display of community solidarity.
In our Annual report, you will read about the advancements made by the various divisions at Tafta towards the delivery of the 2025 strategic plan. While pivoting between the external crises, the Tafta team has delivered significantly in support of this plan. The Operations team found new and creative ways to ensure dignity and respect, which remained the foundations of the interventions with older people. The results of their interventions can be read in the report, and what is worth noting, is the delicate balance which needed to be maintained between autonomy and dependence; practically demonstrated in caring for an older person, while also respecting the reality that each elder deserves the right to live a meaningful life,
right until the end.
You will also read about the business re-engineering processes as we refocussed on the core of why Tafta
exists. Streamlining services within the catering, transport and facilities management sectors became essential. The Support Services team also celebrated the finalization of two significant projects at Kings Hall and Tafta Park.
The importance of health and safety of the elders and staff alike was uppermost, as detailed in the Human Resources’ report. Driven by our commitment to partnerships and collaboration, the teams have forged strategic partnerships with expert service providers to move the development agenda forward; examples of these include the partnerships with HR Torque and Prohas. Significantstrides have been made in supporting the education anddevelopment agenda in our pursuit of achieving a capableand inspired workforce.
With the cancellation of all events and restrictionsimposed by the different levels of lockdown, the ability to fundraise was particularly challenging. Some of our loyal individual and corporate donors were also feeling
the impact of the volatility in our society, compromising their ability to continue to support our work as they would like. We have, however, noted the shift to giving online and increased participation on social media platforms.
Tafta’s visibility internationally has increased through participation and representation on global structures
including the Global Ageing Network (Vice-chair); the Commonwealth Association for the Ageing – Common
Age (Board member and Chair of the Africa Chapter); as well as membership to The Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) and the Pass It On Network (PION). Participation in these structures enables access to best practice models, global support and mentorship, and the opportunity to share the work being done locally. This ensures that Tafta services and programmes remain relevant and is cognisant of international trends and practices.
We have been reminded that our greatest resource is people; the elders who gift us with the opportunity to
express our humanity; our staff who remain beacons of hope and resilience and the community members, who are ambassadors for support and care for older people in the community. While we embarked on the road to recovery with our people, we were mindful of the multiple losses experienced by so many, we were mindful of the pain and sorrow, and this strengthened our resolve to be influencers of change for a better tomorrow.
We celebrate our achievements with gratitude for the kindness, generosity and wisdom of the people who
journey with us, locally and globally. We are especially grateful to our Council members who volunteer
their time and expertise and discharge their fiduciary responsibilities, with such dedication. We close off the
2022 financial year, energized by the possibilities of all that we can do to live out Tafta’s purpose of “making dignity, growth and meaningful life a realistic prospect for all elders”.
Mrs Femada Shamam
Chief Executive Officer
