Old people in Namibia are going into debt to pay for everyday costs – new report examines strained household budgets

By Elena Moore, Professor of Sociology, University of Cape Town
Janet Ananias, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and Social Work at the University of Namibia. Her research interests include ageing and older people, mental health, intergenerational care, and child welfare, University of Namibia

Your grandmother in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, is struggling to breathe. You call the public ambulance service, but you’re told it could take more than 24 hours to arrive, if it comes to your area at all. So you make the only call that might actually save her: the City of Windhoek’s ambulance service. It arrives quickly. It also comes with a bill of 800 Namibian dollars (about US$50).

If you can’t pay on the spot, the city doesn’t turn you away, it simply adds the charge to your municipal account alongside your water and electricity. That should be a relief. In practice, it becomes…

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