Woman rebuilds after losing her daughter and her home
After a horrible ordeal, Koekie van Aarde can finally return home. But there is not much of a home left to return to.
For a local resident from the Krugersdorp West community, it has been a difficult couple of months.
Koekie van Aarde is a quiet woman, but the pain in her heart is reflected on her face. She has recently lost her daughter and her home to one of the very common evils in Krugersdorp – drugs.
Photo: Supplied.
Koekie shared the home she has owned for the past 30 years with her daughter, Margerie van Aarde.
Sadly, Margerie was a drug addict, and on 25 January she died in hospital, following a drug overdose.
Also Read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/370480/drugs-abuse-a-scary-reality-for-krugersdorps-vulnerable-people/
For Koekie this was too much to bear. She became ill and had to be admitted to hospital herself. After she was discharged from hospital, her sister, Marie van der Merwe, took her in to help her recover fully.
Photo: Natasha Pretorius.
However, two years ago, Margie (as she was known) gave permission to a friend of hers to stay in her mother’s yard. The man built himself a room underneath a tree. He was rumoured to be the one who supplied Margie and others in the community with drugs and allegedly also sold drugs out of the property. At one point, the number of drug addicts passing through the house increased to such an extent that Koekie began to feel unsafe, and a safety gate was fitted to her bedroom door.
After Margie’s death, the family wanted Koekie to return to her home, where she had loads of friends and a church community who supported her. The problem was getting rid of the people living on the property – the man who had built himself a room, and another man who had built a tree house in one of the trees on the property.
Photo: Natasha Pretorius.
The family went to talk to the two men, and asked them to leave, but they refused and after countless efforts, the police were eventually called to the house. They arrested one of the men for possession of drugs and ammunition.
The family then had the opportunity to destroy the two structures, and claim that they had to get rid of eight bakkie-loads of garbage.
Photo: Supplied.
Koekie is now on the road to recovery and wants to return to her home, but through the years the house has been terribly vandalised. The geyser, stove and all the wiring have been removed from the house, as has most of the furniture. Despite this, the family has started to repaint the inside of the house and is busy getting some furniture together.
They are however appealing to the community to assist them with the rewiring of the house, a stove and a geyser, as well as anything else that can be spared.
If you want to help this family, please contact Hester at 081 769 4256 for more information.
