By Anita Dangazele
Nolisini Ivy Simaniyo, 84, was last seen on Tuesday last week when she left her home at Ndileka Location in Qonce to queue overnight for Transnet’s Phelophepa Health Train.
Nolisini was hoping to be first in line to get spectacles on Wednesday morning, as the train offers primary healthcare services, including general health checks, vision screening, basic dentistry, counselling services and medication for minor ailments.
But it seems she never made it to her destination.
Her granddaughter, Yonela Simaniyo, said her grandmother was last seen on Tuesday wearing a grey beret, grey jersey, pleated beige skirt, and black shoes, and was carrying “a red fleece”.
“My grandmother left home on Tuesday afternoon. She was going to sleep at the station so that she could be among the first to get help on Wednesday morning,” Yonela said.
“We became worried when she didn’t return on Wednesday afternoon because she would have been helped by then.”
The family got up early on Thursday morning to go and look for the elderly lady at the station but were told that she did not appear on the list of people helped on the day.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a record to indicate the patient received any services on the train,” Transnet Phelophepa acting manager, Dr Thabiso Manamela, told the family.
The family began searching in hospitals and mortuaries, but their search yielded no results.
Yonela said it was not unusual for her grandmother to go to the clinic by herself but she always returned home.
“This is a shock to us. My grandmother has never got lost before. She always comes back.”
A missing person’s report was opened on Friday. Yonela said they are working with a SAPS search and rescue team in efforts to locate Nolisini.
Meanwhile, Petros Majola of the Khula Development Project encouraged families to always make sure that the elderly are accompanied when they are running errands or visiting a clinic or hospital.
“The people need to understand that elders need to be accompanied all the time even when they claim they can run errands on their own. You never know if they’ll make it home.”
Pictured above: The missing woman, Nolisini Ivy Simaniyo, 84.
Image Source: Supplied
