Delft wheelchair user finally gets her own house
After 15 years living in a container, Nobendiba Thuthani says she had lost hope
After years and years in unsuitable housing, wheelchair user Nobendiba Thuthani, 49, could not hold back her tears when she was finally given the keys to a house last week.
“I never thought this day would come. It feels like I am dreaming,” said Thuthani when Langa city councillor Ncumisa Mahango handed over the Delft house on behalf of the City of Cape Town.
Thuthani had polio at an early age and cannot walk. For 15 years she lived in a container, with no electricity, then four months ago she was moved to temporary housing
Thuthani, who lives with five family members, said she was grateful to all those who had helped her. “I had lost hope of getting a house,” she said.
The family now has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a lounge and a flush toilet. In her previous lodging, Thuthani had not been able to use the outside toilet and used a bucket which her 27-year-old daughter Nosabatha had to empty.
Mahango said the City was happy to help the Thuthani family. “When we gave them the temporary housing four months back, we said we would be happy only when we see them owning a house and now that has happened,” said Mahango.
“This new house means I will be able to go out and get some fresh air,” Thuthani said. “In this Freedom Month I will finally get the freedom I have been longing for all my life.”
Next: No progress in Human Rights Commission investigation into Old Mutual Club
Previous: Equal Education confronts Allan Gray over social grant deductions
© 2017 GroundUp. 
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and GroundUp, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.