A destitute Ngalo family in Ngangelizwe Township, Mthatha, have received an outpouring of support and government assistance following an article published by Express on July 22, which laid bare the dire living conditions of the family.
The Express article even caught the attention of two national television broadcasters, which also visited the family to give impetus in highlighting their plight.
Zukiswa Ngalo (57), who has been confined to her bed since suffering a severe stroke in 2017 and currently lives in a dilapidated mud house with two sons and two grandchildren, has received a wheelchair from the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality, had her disability grant application promptly approved by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and received donations that included two beds for her children, blankets, and food parcels, since the publication of the article on her dire living conditions.
Express has seen a letter from SASSA confirming that Ngalo will start receiving her permanent disability grant from this month.
In addition, SASSA will pay Ngalo’s son, who is also her caregiver, an amount equivalent to a child support grant called a grant in aid every month.
“I am very happy to have my application for a disability grant approved, which will definitely go a long way in alleviating my situation, as we were struggling to buy groceries to last us for a month from the disability grant of my son and a child support grant for my grandchild, which we previously survived on,” Ngalo said.
She further reiterated her plea to be assisted with a decent house, saying even a temporary structure would suffice compared to the dilapidated structure she currently lives in.
SASSA Eastern Cape spokesperson, Luzuko Qina, said, “Ngalo applied for a disability grant fraudulently in 2016, which she admitted to and refunded SASSA over a period paying R200 per month. She now applied for a disability grant having suffered a stroke and being bedridden.”
Qina said after being assessed by a doctor appointed by SASSA, Ngalo was granted a disability grant as well as a grant-in-aid as she requires full time assistance.
“The grant-in-aid is awarded to a beneficiary who is in need of an assistant to live with, which she would offer to the person who is helping her. It is not necessarily given to a son. It is added to the beneficiary.”
