HER fragile frame is huddled under a thin blanket, her snowy white hair in stark contrast to the yellowed pillow propped under her head.
Her eyes are almost closed, shutting out the harsh reality etched out on her broken skin.
Loneliness is the least of her problems – meals, medicine and frail care, or any care for that matter, is what really matters.
Because, like so many ravaged by age and malnutrition, she has been left virtually abandoned.
The plight of the elderly local woman, shared on social media by spiritual counsellor Trudy Pitout, touched many hearts and sparked a new debate about the lack of facilities in Richards Bay to alleviate the suffering of the aged and destitute.
Pitout says for many a permanent shelter is becoming a matter of life and death.
Pitout has been working among the Richards Bay community for decades, dealing with severe domestic and sexual abuse, drug dependency, poverty, gambling and other social ills.
In the current economic climate, families are barely staying afloat and feeding an extra mouth is just not possible.
More and more turn to welfare organisations and churches for help.
But, while able to support families emotionally to work towards practical solutions – if any are to be found – volunteers and counsellors are not permitted to receive cash, groceries or contributions on behalf of the needy unless employed by registered NGOs that are legally and financially compliant.
Although communities often help victims of fires, floods or sudden abandonment on an ad hoc basis, long-term solutions remain elusive.
Irma Dreyer of the Suid-Afrikaanse Vrouefederasie (SAWF) also drives public fund-raising initiatives on behalf of the needy and the elderly, but laments poor attendance following an event.
A former NGO employee says the constant begging for funds dampened her enthusiasm.
‘Certain corporates and businessmen always help when they can and everybody tends to approach them, which leads to a donor fatigue.’
