“A struggling old lady who sleeps like a bird,

Mkhize struggles to walk; she limps with a walking stick.

Her five-roomed mud house is crumbling. The broken windows are covered by old blankets to keep out the wind and rain. The cupboards on the dusty floors are broken. Mkhize shares a bed with her great-grandchildren, while her grandchildren sleep on the floor in another tiny room.

The outside pit toilet is in very bad condition.

The family uses a leaking pipe as a tap. “Six years ago they stole my tap in the yard”, Mkhize says. Theft of taps, door handles and even the gates of community halls is common these days.

Ward councillor Sibusiso Mkhize said he knew about Mkhize’s situation. “The matter is being looked at,” he said.

But Mkhize said she had applied for a house in 2008 and again in 2010.

“No one told me anything or gave me a response. I told myself that I will die in this mud house. I have lost count of how many years I have been staying here. I gave birth to my children in this house. My children also gave birth to their children in this house. Their children have now given birth to their children in the same house.”

“While other people are grateful for the summer season, we are very scared. It rains, and lately with the heavy rains and storms, my family lives in fear,” she said.

The rains were heavy last January/

Mkhize lives with her granddaughters Nonsikelelo (24), Sanelisiwe (20), and Ntokozo (9). Their mother died in 2008 after a long illness and Mkhize’s other two children are also dead. Her great-grandchildren, Zekhethelo (3), Owami (1) and Bandile (six months), also live in the house and the family subsists on her old age pension and the children’s grants.

“I am a struggling old lady who sleeps like a bird because I fear that the worst could happen,” Mhkize said. “I am scared that one day this house will fall on me and kill me.”

Grace Mkhize’s mud house. Photo by Ntombi Mbomvu.