By Doreen Mokgolo
For most South Africans, load shedding is a major inconvenience. For Jenny Moloto, it is life-threatening.
Her life depends on an electric oxygen cylinder that aids her breathing.
The 67-year-old from Pimville, in Soweto, was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, a rare condition that affected her lungs.
The pensioner has been depending exclusively on an external oxygen supply since last June, and since then, her health has deteriorated further.
On the weekend, during the peak of the stage six loadshedding with between 8 to 10 hours without electricity each day, the pensioner didn’t have access to her oxygen supply.
The pensioner said her area didn’t have electricity from 4.30 am until 8 pm which is 16 hours, forcing her to use her backup oxygen cylinder which she only uses during emergencies.
“For 10 hours, this costs me R400 to refill the cylinder. I then have to call a supplier to deliver a refill,” she said.
The pensioner’s daughter, Mpho Rammile, said they couldn’t get hold of the supplier due to the poor cellphone reception which was also affected by loadshedding.
“We had to drive out of the area to get reception to send an SMS for the oxygen cylinder to be delivered at home.
“When we finally thought that we were going to get help, the supplier was stuck in traffic due to traffic lights that were also affected,” she added.
She said during this period that her mother was struggling to breath, causing her to fear the worst.
Mpho said she fears with the rolling blackouts and speculations that they might reach stage 8 and she could just lose her mother.
“As it is, we are struggling to afford the R400 refill, during the stage six load-shedding, we need two oxygen cylinders. How are we going to make it through this?
“Is there anyone in parliament who cares about us, who understands the challenges that ordinary citizens are impacted by due to load shedding?
“Other people can replace their electrical appliances that are damaged by load-shedding. If my mother dies, I won’t be able to buy back her life,” she added.
Pictured above: Jenny Moloto
Image source: Supplied
