Cape Town – A Bonteheuwel man who has been living in his car for the past 10 years is begging for help, saying his “house” has become dangerous.
Parked in front of his childhood home, in Bessie Road, Bonteheuwel, the cream Mercedes Benz 1986 model has been home to Armien Hartzenberg, 64, since 2007 “after my wife kicked me out”.
“I eat, sleep and live in this car. I do everything in this car,” he explains.
Armien's only possessions are his clothing and his car. Picture: Bertram Malgas
He wakes up at 3am every day to wash at the local mosque before morning prayers.
The pensioner says his cramped quarters, and bitter cold winters, are starting to take their toll on his ageing body.
Armien claims he was happily married for 40 years before allegedly catching his ex-wife in bed with another man in their house in Jakkalsvlei Road.
“I was coming back from work one day when I caught her with someone else. Every time I tried to speak to her about it she would deny everything.”
Devastated by his wife’s “betrayal”, Armien tried to commit suicide by throwing himself onto the railway tracks close to Bonteheuwel station.
He was saved as people helped him off the tracks before a train could come.
In 2007, their divorce came through, and his wife got the house.
The retired oil rigger, who worked for Sasol and PetroSA, worked away for months on end, and didn’t miss his house at first.
“Every time I came home I would sleep in front of the Jakkalsvlei house in my Ford GSL.”
But his wife chased him away, and now he has become tired of his nomadic lifestyle and longs for a place of his own.
“I have applied for a place at the retirement village in December and I’m waiting to hear if I get in,” he says.
When the Daily Voice approached Armien’s ex-wife with his claims, she would only say: “No comment.”