By Doreen Mokgolo
- A Springs pensioner uses her social grant to feed 30 homeless children at her shelter because she gets no government help.
- The shelter is overcrowded and has no electricity due to a debt run up by the previous owner.
A Springs pensioner is stretching her social grant to feed 30 homeless children because the government won’t help her registered shelter.
Ironically, a Gauteng government department refers abandoned homeless children to the shelter.
Mariam Ntsele opened her home 15 years ago, hoping it would become a safe haven for vulnerable children in Ekurhuleni. But today she struggles to keep it going.
“I have on numerous occasions tried to seek funding but they always turn down my application, citing that the department doesn’t have money,” said Ntsele.
“But the same department drops children here every weekend without a single cent to help feed them until they find a place to place them.
“I am old and tired but I can’t turn away the children even though I can’t afford to take care of them,” she told Scrolla.Africa.
The shelter takes in children up to 18 years old. Some are placed there temporarily by social workers or police while waiting for space at registered homes. Others are abandoned by parents who never return.
The two-bedroom house is now bursting at the seams. Girls sleep in the bedrooms while boys stay in makeshift shelters made of sheets and nets. Some even sleep in the parking area.
The gogo has to pay for school uniforms, fees, stationery and transport. She also pays the women who help care for the children.
The home has no electricity. The City of Ekurhuleni cut the power because of an old debt owed by the previous owner of the house.
Ntsele relies on her pension grant, occasional donations from the community and selling homemade cakes to keep the shelter running.
“I have no choice but to keep going for these children or they will be homeless,” she said.
The Gauteng Social Development Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Pictured above: Gogo Maria Ntsele.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
