Nothing but the whistling winter wind

THE WINTER wind whistles through the cracks and in the gaping holes where large parts of the mud house are falling off.
This may sound like a scene from a terrible documentary but for Sisana Mhlungu a 40 year old woman from the Emadresini area of Mondlo this is a daily.
Sisana has been living alone in this house since her late mother’s passing earlier this year.
Life has always proven difficult for this woman who was diagnosed with sugar diabetes last year and has since had numerous health issues.
Sisana’s story first came to public attention when her neighbour Nqobile Makhathini wrote about this woman’s sad story on a local Facebook page.
According to Nqobile, her bedridden neighbour was living in this house which was cracked and crumbling.
Nqobile pointed out that Sisana was awfully sick and had no one to look after her.
According to Nqobile, even the areas councillor knows about Sisana’s terrible situation yet he has never intervened.
“My family and I have taken to going to check up on her on a daily basis as she lives alone and thieves have attempted to break into the house several times,” said Nqobile.
In one instance, the thieves tried to dig through a wall to gain access and steal a fridge but were caught dead on their tracks by the Makhathini family.
The thieves ran away. Leaving Sisana’s house in a worse condition with a gaping hole where they had tried to break in.
On better days, Sisana tries to go out and sell mielies to make ends meet.
This she says has also proven to be a very difficult task in the past few months as she often does not have enough strength to walk further than her gate and has often had to return home with the 20litre bucket filled with mielies after the aches and pains proved to be too much to bare.
Nqobile informed the Vryheid Herald that they were looking for help for this woman as her health was at great stake with the cold winter winds whizzing right through the crumbling walls of her house.
“Sometimes I get there and she does not even have mielie meal and I am very troubled as we never know how long this has been the case because she is so sick that she sometimes can’t even walk to my house to ask for help,” said a worried Nqobile.
This community member is appealing to anyone who might be able to help her neighbour to come forward.
Any help would be highly appreciated.