By Anita Dangazele
A 92-year-old woman in Cwebeni, Port St Johns, one of the poorest villages in the Eastern Cape, has died without ever getting a proper home.
Maswelekile Petshana had been waiting for an RDP house since 1999.
According to her daughter, Lindiwe Petshana, 46, she often said that her only wish was to get an RDP house for her family.
Maswelekile, a mother of six, affectionately known as Gogo Petshana, had lived with her daughter Lindiwe and six grandchildren in a dilapidated one-roomed mud house.
Gogo used an old bed while the rest of the family slept on the floor.
Her family depended on her monthly pension to survive.
Lindiwe said her mother died on Thursday last week, after complaining of shortness of breath on Tuesday.
She was taken to the Isilimela Hospital but was discharged the next day. She died at around 3 pm on Thursday.
“She applied [for the RDP house] years ago but nothing ever came of that,” Lindiwe said.
“I’m sure that wherever she is now, she will be angry. She was heartbroken that she had been unable to provide us with a proper house although she tried her best.”
Lindiwe described her mother as a woman who loved her family, who was always fun to be around and who shared endless stories with her and the grandchildren.
Recently, Scrolla.Africa reported on how desperate villagers from Cwebeni had petitioned President Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier Oscar Mabuyane, begging them to intervene in what they described as a severe violation of their human rights.
They said malnutrition and starvation were rife in the village, with more than 100 families, including children, living in extreme poverty.
Recently, more than 100 families had been displaced by floods and many people were living in rundown and dilapidated homes unfit for habitation.
However, the villagers’ plea was dismissed by traditional leaders in the area as nothing more than a narrative sold for personal gain.
Port St Johns municipal authorities, meanwhile, said Maswelekile Petshana’s name appears on the list of people due to receive RDP homes.
Municipal spokesperson Simthandile Ford said her children would receive the house even though their mother is dead.
“Nothing will change. When the house is there, it will be given to the children.”
Ford added that an official announcement of a housing project in Cwebeni will be made once the verification process has been completed.
Pictured above: Gogo Maswelekile Petshana, 92.
Image source: Supplied
