Residents across the Cape are calling for local stores to instate an ‘elderly hour’, where only shoppers above a certain age will be allowed to enter the stores and do their necessary shopping.
This comes after other supermarkets around the world have started offering this new service, dedicating an hour of the day to allowing the elderly and those with disabilities to shop for their needs before anyone else.
These establishments have instated this new offering in response to chaotic panic buying and the general inability for elder patrons to get hold of the things they need after younger or more able individuals have cleared the shelves.
A Woolworths in Australia shared news of their new initiative on March 14.
“We’re launching a dedicated shopping hour in our stores to help support the needs of the elderly and people with disability in the community. From tomorrow until at least Friday, we’ll be opening exclusively for them to shop from 7-8am, where permitted. This temporary measure will give them, and those with a disability, the opportunity to shop before our stores officially open, helping them obtain the essential items they need most in a less crowded environment,” said the store in a statement on their Facebook page.
Since the news of establishments offering elderly hour across the globe, Capetonians have taken to social media to ask that local stores do the same so that elderly members of the community are able to do their shopping without stress or lack of supply.
“Would it be possible for all supermarkets to allow the elderly in to do their shopping for an hour in the mornings before the rest of us, as the shops will be stocked/cleaned and disinfected. This will help them physically and mentally to cope. Can we make this a thing. What ya think?” asked local, Rupert Van Der Merwe in a community group on March 16.
With Rupert’s post getting over 200 shares and more than 300 supportive comments, it’s clear that many other community members feel the same.
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