Audit of Residential Facilities, Final report - Division for Social Policy ...

Africans comprise 67, 7% of the population of older persons and mostly reside in rural areas.Whites comprise 22, 5% of older persons, which is more than double their proportion in thegeneral population. This is probably attributable to longer life expectancy and lower fertility.Apart from Africans, older persons in other population groups mostly reside in urban areas.In terms of the overall distribution of older person in South Africa the distribution of old ageresidential facilities is disproportionate in the wealthier provinces of Gauteng and the WesternCape, with a distinct lack of facilities in poorer provinces such as Limpopo, Eastern Cape andFree State. Owing to out-migration and urbanisation amongst younger persons, older personsare disproportionately represented in the most rural and the poorest provinces of the country. Atthe same time the audit found that the majority of facilities (79%) are concentrated inmetropolitan formal areas or small urban formal areas. Only 5% are in informal or squatter areaswhile 16% are in rural areas.2.4.4 Homes in proportion to the PopulationA study conducted by FEM Research Consultants in the Western Cape is indicative of thesituation in the rest of the country, where the number of homes for older persons isdisproportionate to the population in the province.25 | D S D A u d i t o f R e s i d e n t i a l F a c i l i t i e s