“I don’t know what to do. All my children are unemployed. But I’d love to bury my child with dignity.”
So says bereaved KTC mother Nopinky Ndongeni, who caught between a rock and a hard place following the death of her 12-year-old daughter Asamila.
She is now appealing for help from the public to bury her.
Asamila died in hospital on Monday 25 July after many years of battling ill-health. She is Ndongeni’s third child to die.
The 54-year-old’s surviving three children are all unemployed and unable to help.
“I’m staying with 11 children in this one-room shack,” she pointed out.
“Three of them are mine and the other eight are my grandchildren. Several of them are sleeping on the floor because I don’t have enough beds.”
At this stage the matriarch doesn’t know when her child will be buried. She said her father, who also lives in the area, is also unemployed.
“It doesn’t have to be a cash. People can donate whatever they can.”
The chair of the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) in Ward 38, Nkosikhona Mafenuka, urged local business people to come on board to assist the disadvantaged family.
“When I heard about the family’s situation last week I decided to inform the media to assist us. I was so touched when I visited the family.
“We are appealing to anyone to donate whatever they have.
“As community members will continue trying by all means that child has a decent funeral that she deserved.”
When City Vision visited the family on Monday 1 August there were a few neighbours and community leaders visiting. Ndongeni stated she and her family had no food, and one of the neighbours had bought bread for them to eat that morning.
- People who are able to assist can phone Nozuko Ntintili on 078 166 2655