Hungry kids battle to survive on their own

AT THE age of 14, Wisani Maluleke from Xihosani village near Giyani is supposed to enjoy the carefree life of a young teenager, but instead he has to look after his two siblings after his mother passed away recently.

Wisani is not a child anymore, because he has to fulfil the roles of father and mother to his six-year-old brother and two-year-old sister.

“I have to ensure my siblings eat something every day. People in our village won’t open their doors for us anymore, because they know we come to beg for food,” he says.

His mother’s sister, Dories Shivambu, explains that her sister died in April after a long illness that kept her in bed for months. Shivambu says she lives only a few houses away from the Maluleke children, but she is unable to help them.

“I have four children of my own to take care of. This is too hard for me to handle. I am a single mother and unemployed,” she says.

Shivambu says the Maluleke children survive on the feeding schemes at their schools, but they struggle during the school holidays.

“When the schools close they become even more of a burden to me. I have nothing to feed them with. The worst part is that I can no longer work, because I have to look after the two-year-old.”

She says she registered the children for child grants, but they have not received anything yet. “I only registered them last month. We have to wait for the process to complete before they can receive grants. We don’t have that time, because they need food now.”

Shivambu says she has to look after her own family at night and leaves Wisani and his siblings alone in their mud house.

A neighbour, Eddy Maluleke, says he is very concerned about these children’s welfare.

“Sometimes I pass by their house and see them sitting around the fire, trying to cook something on their own. Somebody needs to do something,” he says.

Health and social development spokesperson, Adéle van der Linde, says it is important that communities report such incidents of child-headed households to the department.

“On receiving such reports, we send a task team to assess the situation and take the correct action to ensure the safety and well-being of such children,” Van der Linde says.