SHE thought that having her blind, elderly grandmother and mentally challenged aunt dragged from their burning house with smoke inhalation injuries was bad enough, but when she still struggled to get her relatives’ lives back on track months after the incident, this New Brighton woman realised that her troubles were still far from over.
The woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, as she fears for her safety and that of her grandmother, said that their nightmares started when her grandmother’s house in Limba Street burnt to the ground in July this year.
Members of the community had to drag the elderly woman from the house, as she had lost her sight years ago, and also save the life of her daughter.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and the family had lost everything. Not even a teaspoon could be salvaged, as the woman explained.
Everything that her grandmother owned had gone up in flames.
The woman explained that shortly after the incident, she went to the ward councillor’s office to obtain a letter confirming that her grandmother’s house had burnt down. This letter would then be used to ask for donations and possibly apply for a new structure for the two women to live in.
However, the woman claims that the ward councillor has continuously refused to provide her with this letter, giving different excuses every time she visited his office.
“We couldn’t get any help without the letter. I asked him for the letter because I needed it to go to Brister House (Lilian Diedericks Building) to ask for help and he just wanted to know why I needed it. He told me to go back on the Monday and he’d have the letter but when I went to get it that Monday, he wanted to know again what I needed the letter for, although I had already explained why,” she said.
She added that the councillor said that any NGOs that wanted to help her grandmother must come to him and that he needs to consult on everything. He allegedly also got on the phone with then-mayor, Eugene Johnson, who allegedly “advised” him to not give them the letter.
The woman said that she has no idea if the councillor really spoke to the previous mayor or if he just made that up and spoke to someone else.
“A ward councillor is supposed to assist the community, as far as I know. We suffered a loss and that causes trauma.”
A family friend, who also prefers to withhold his name, said that the councillor eventually asked for a fire report and when this was given to him, he changed his mind again about giving them the letter.
“I just can’t understand why we can’t get the letter. It has been an endless battle. An official at Brister House told us that it was the councillor’s responsibility to go there on behalf of his community. He also helped people from another house in the street, one that didn’t even burn down, but he is not willing to help this family,” the friend said.
He explained that while they were at Brister House trying to get help, the woman’s cousin called to say that the councillor was there with the former ward councillor and they were removing the rubble from the property without consent.
“I immediately left everything and went home and when I got there, the rubble was gone. This former councillor, a woman, said that Brister House must not help us, but we have to work through her to get the process going but I’ve been trying to tell her that we need the letter first. She suddenly wanted us to get a doctor’s report because we said that my granny is blind,” the woman explained.
Promises were allegedly also made by a different official that NGO, Gift of the Givers, would help the family but to no avail.
According to the woman, what made matters worse was the structure that the councillor eventually organised for her grandmother to live in.
“He said that the municipality does not build houses for people and erected this Wendy house that is more like a shack from someone’s nightmare.
“It is a pre-owned shack with huge holes in the door and holes in the roof sheeting. Everything is leaking and the floor shakes when you walk on it.
“It is unacceptable that they expect an elderly woman or any person actually, to live in such terrible conditions,” the woman explained.
She said that she had taken her grandmother, who is an ANC veteran, and her mentally challenged aunt, out of the township to a place of safety with family.
“This whole situation has been a nightmare,” the friend said.
After several calls and messages, Ward 14 Councillor, Mbulelo Qupe, indicated via a WhatsApp message that he has no comment on this matter.
