From a distance, one could be forgiven for concluding that house 863 in Xhosana Street, Ngangelizwe, had been abandoned for years and no one was occupying it.
But inside the dilapidated mud structure with no electricity supply lives bedridden Zukiswa Ngalo (57), her two sons – one of whom has a disability – and two grandchildren.
Ngalo suffered a severe stroke in 2017, which left her unable to walk, to an extent that her older son dropped out of school, while in Grade 10, to look after his mother, who now needs to be bathed and uses adult diapers.
The family survives on the disability grant of Ngalo’s last born son and a child support grant of one grandchild.
She tells Express that she applied for her own disability grant years ago after the doctors had given her documents proving that her condition was permanent but was still waiting for the approval of her application by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) up to this day.
“I made an application for a disability grant about four years ago, but I never received any feedback from SASSA on the status of my application.
“To my surprise, SASSA called me earlier this year summoning me to their offices where they told me that there was an amount of R4 700 they mistakenly deposited to my account that I will need to pay back in monthly instalments once my disability grant application was approved,” Nduku revealed.
When asked if she had received the money that was allegedly deposited into her account by mistake, Nduku was adamant that she never received a cent of that money in her account.
She has, instead, made an impassioned plea to the government and individuals to help alleviate her desperate and poor living conditions.
“My immediate need is a house, even if it is a temporary structure, as this house can fall on me and my children at any time,” an emotional Nduku said.
She said the house, filled with cracks and with makeshift doors, was very cold and exacerbates her condition.
SASSA Eastern Cape spokesperson, Luzuko Qina, when contacted for comment, told Express that the reason for the non-approval of Ngalo’s application for a disability grant was that she had defrauded them but refused to give more details citing legal reasons.
Meanwhile, the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality, through its spokesperson, Sonwabo Mampoza, said the municipality was aware of Ngalo’s situation but blamed her for being non-cooperative.
“The municipality can confirm that a visit was made to Ngalo to try to assist her to register for a house but found that the property belonged to her late parents and, therefore, a transfer of ownership was needed for her to be assisted, but she has not been cooperative with the municipality in that aspect,” said Mampoza.
He further said the ward councillor for the area was also assisting Ngalo by giving her food parcels and other items on her birthday every year, while the municipality awaited the transfer of ownership of the property to be resolved.
