Dibapalo Mohedo and Johanna Nsibande have managed to buy some warm clothes thanks to a R10,000 donation from a well-wisher. Photo: Kimberly Mutandiro
9 May 2019
Hundred-year-old Dibapalo Boy Mohedo and his wife Johanna Nsibande received a R10,000 donation from a well wisher who read the struggling couple’s story, published by GroundUp about two weeks ago.
The elderly couple, who live with two of their orphaned grandchildren in Snake Park Informal settlement in Nigel, rely on their pension for survival. They have been trying to get an RDP house for more than 22 years.
Daniel Schwartzkopff, CEO of Invictus Capital, was touched by their story.
“Perhaps my donation will improve their current situation a bit,” said Schwartzkopff.
“We are grateful to the saint who donated R10,000. Now we will not have to take groceries on credit,” said Nsibande.
“We will not go hungry anymore. For once we will have a decent meal to eat just like other people.”
She said she could not remember when they last ate meat, drank tea with milk or had enough coal to light their stove.
Nsibande said she would buy plenty of groceries, as well as some warm clothes for herself, for Mohedo and for their grandchildren. She would also spend money on Mohedo’s medical needs.
Nsibande has to hire a car for R150 whenever they go for a checkup at the local clinic.
The couple also want to hire someone to patch the roof of their shack which leaks when it rains and to save some money “for small emergencies”.
“To buy enough food one needs to spend R2,000 or more a month,” said Nsibande. “With our pension money we hardly had enough. We are old and need medical supplies. We also need warm clothes for the winter as our shack is very cold.”
Mohedo, who often complains of chest pains, coughs a lot at night due to the cold, she said.