No ‘pandemonium’ at OPH power outage

ANN KOPELOWITZ
Ann Kopelowitz, Chairman of Our Parents Home residents committee, Johannesburg writes:

She reported that there was pandemonium during the power outage at Our Parents Home on Saturday June7, which was grossly exaggerated.

The power outage started at about 17:45 and we can proudly confirm that by 19:00, all residents were safely in their rooms. Contrary to the report, there was no pandemonium and a member of the residents committee, Stan Schroder and Sipho, our security guard, were the real heroes.

They organised the residents, both ambulatory and non-ambulatory and ensured that they were all escorted safely to their rooms in an orderly manner. This was confirmed by a resident who came home at 19:00 and said that all was peaceful and quiet.

We certainly do not need a Mashigach Lakshimim as inferred by Bev Price as we have many residents at Our Parents Home who are physically and mentally able to participate in daily activities. We also have able and willing staff to assist those in need of help.

In addition, we have a strong and active residents committee consisting of seven members, who liaise with different levels of management in the interests of all residents.

I think it showed poor investigative reporting as not one staff member or resident of Our Parents Home was contacted for verification.

We expect an apology in your next edition and we trust that in future, all information will be verified and facts are confirmed prior to printing.

If ever we make a mistake in our reporting, we do not hesitate to correct it, or give a different view. In this case, because of the sensitivity of the matter, we feel our reporter was justified in her reporting. Maybe our letter writer read more into the story than was intended. As a matter of fact, we commended Michael Sieff for his swift action. – Editor