Zimkhitha Mbunge and Michael Nkalane
A Gugulethu woman of 80 living on handouts after her house was destroyed by fire three weeks ago was dealt another blow when she discovered that the City could not fix her home because it had been signed over to her without her knowledge.
Nontsikelelo Mkhonto, 80, narrowly escaped a blaze that engulfed her four-roomed house. Mkhonto has been living in the house for 60 years.
Recalling the day of the event, she said she was sitting in her lounge when a fire broke out in her bedroom.
“I heard strange sounds coming from my bedroom. I wondered what it was, but I was too scared to take a look,” said Mkhonto, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I called my cousin,who was washing clothes outside so that we could have a look together. But we were stopped by the blaze coming out of the room,” she said.
Fortunately they managed to escape. They alerted neighbours for help, but by the time the neighbours arrived the flames had engulfed the house.
“I was left with these clothes that I am wearing.
“The blankets that I sleep with were donated by good Samaritans I don’t even know,” she said.
Though Mkhonto is staying with her brother in NY14 she walks with her stick every day to NY43 (about 3km) to her old neighbourhood where she spends the day hoping for any kind of help she could receive.
She said that it is taking a strain on her.
“Imagine walking such a distance at my age, but I have to do it… and I am hoping for donations and any kind of assistance possible.”
To make matters worse, Mkhonto said she was told she owned the house she had been renting for as long as she could remember.
“I never received any title deed. I am renting here. That is what I have been doing for years. I was surprised to be told that I own a house. I do not know how I am going to rebuild a four-room house,” she said.
Abemi, a local non-governmental organisation is monitoring Mkhonto’s condition and soliciting donations on her behalf, said member Mzimkhulu Balintulo.
The City’s mayoral committee member for Human Settlements, Benedicta van Minnen, said it had been determined that Mkhonto was the registered owner of the property.
“However, the City is looking at how we could possibly assist through our existing fire assistance programmes,” she said.
City spokesperson Jean-Marie De Waal said they were investigating when the house was transferred and who signed the documents.
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