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- Being diagnosed with dementia may be a death sentence because some communities associate the condition with witchcraft.
- SA commemorates World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September.
- It is to raise awareness and to challenge the stigma surrounding dementia.
Being diagnosed with dementia in South Africa may be a death sentence because some communities associate the condition with witchcraft.
As South Africa commemorates World Alzheimer's Day on 21 September, the Department of Social Development has recommitted itself to providing support, care and services to people with Alzheimer's and dementia.
According to medical experts, dementia indicates loss of memory, and the lack of daily activities performance and communication abilities.
Alzheimer's is a common form of dementia, which affects memory, language and the process of thoughts, and it worsens over time.
For Jabulani Moagi's family, it's an emotional situation because their loved one was burned alive after she was accused of practising witchcraft.
Moagi, 64, from Soweto in Johannesburg, said some black people don't understand the two conditions and sometimes associate it with witchcraft.
READ | Mentally ill Soweto woman accused of witchcraft dies after being set alight
"It has been two years since my mother-in-law, Jostina Sangweni, was accused of practising witchcraft. This happened a month after she was diagnosed with dementia," he said.
He said the family elders had suggested taking her to a traditional healer because she was once a practising sangoma.
He said:
Moagi said Sangweni suffered from memory loss, and sometimes she would see her dead husband and even "chat with him".
"Our communities are very negative on people who have dementia. People must be educated about these conditions," he said.
Meanwhile, a 48-year-old man, from Somerset East in the Eastern Cape, who asked not to be named, said he was looking after his 81-year-old mother, who had dementia.
He said:
He said that, in his community, people understood his mother's condition.
"However, I always worry about her, especially when she hallucinates. Sometimes, she wants to go home to Tsolo, six hours away. She would pack her clothes in a gown. So I usually take her for a walk, which satisfies her," he said.
He said it was not easy to care for someone who had dementia.
"You cannot leave them alone because you do not want them leaving the house and getting lost. You need to be very patient with them as well. There is no treatment for it, but there is medication that she takes to control it," he said.
READ | Awareness raised on World Alzheimer's Day
Clinical psychologist and cultural expert Anele Siswana said several people had lost their lives after they were accused of witchcraft.
"Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions, and their personalities may change. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person's functioning, to the most severe stage. This is when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living, such as feeding oneself," he said.
Siswana described it as a mental health condition, which is problematised due to misunderstandings and stereotypes around witchcraft among the elderly.
He said:
He said healthcare workers needed to create awareness around dementia and create support structures for families in the community.
"We need collaboration between traditional healers and mental health professionals that will assist communities with the knowledge around this," he said.
