While people are gallivanting, enjoying life, Lindiwe Dyalivane from Nkanini informal settlement in Khayelitsha is stuck in bed and has nowhere to go because of her rare illness.
Dyalivane has for almost six years suffered from lymphoedema which causes her difficulties to move around. Most of her time is spent lying in bed.
Lymphoedema is a swelling due to a build-up of lymph in the body.
The 54-year-old woman is now appealing to anyone who can assist her to fight this illness to come forward.
Dyalivane said she went to professional doctors but did not get help.
“I grew up like anybody else. I was normal. I used to work. When I arrived here (Nkanini) in 2012, I was sewing clothes and going door to door selling my stuff. But one day in 2017, I woke up feeling a pain in my waist. My waist became stiff, and it was difficult to walk,” explained Dyalivane.
She said the exacerbating pain forced her to quit her job.
Dyalivane said her legs grew bigger daily, making it difficult for her to walk.
“I can’t walk properly. I’m using crutches and my legs are painful when I walk for a long distance. I spend most of the time lying in bed. Stepping down from the bed is a mission on its own. I don’t bother going outside, I stay indoors.,” she said adding that her legs are painful when she is sitting on the chair.
She said she now spends most of the time indoors.
Dyalivane said she went to various private doctors and public clinics but could not get anything tangible. “Instead they diagnosed me with high blood pressure and arthritis,” she said.
Dyalivane said both her legs became fat but they are not painful when she touch them.
She said she used to do everything in the bucket because she could not go out.
“I’m staying with my sister’s 14-year-old child. She used to take the bucket and discard it outside. She is the one who assists me when I’m bathing. There’s nothing that I can do in the house, she does everything,” stated Dyalivane, adding that sometimes she feels pity for her because she is still young.
However, she stated that last month she was fortunate after the ward councillor installed a flushing toilet in her shack.
Dyalivane said she only goes outside when she visits the clinic.
Talking about her daily struggles, Dyalivane said it was a mission to visit the doctors whenever she had an appointment.
She said it takes longer to reach public roads and transport.
“It must wait for me at a distance because there are no proper roads in the shacks.
“I spend about R300 for transport to the Michael Mapongwana clinic every time I go to see the doctor. I’m surviving with a disability grant. And I have to take care of my sister’s child,” she said, adding that her sister died in 2018.
Dyalivane stated that she was also concerned about her life. “I don’t sleep. Sometimes I ask myself, what would I do in case of emergency?
That means I would die here. Let’s say there is a shack fire now. Who is going to lift me? I’m not safe at all. I need a proper house,” she stated.
Ward 95 councillor Ayanda Tetani described Dyalivane’s situation as worrisome. He stated that he knew her before he became a councillor.
“I was a SANCO chair in the area before I became a councillor. I met her before. So, when I resumed the office, I went back to her to check her situation. After I found out that her condition had gotten worse I took some money out of my pocket and asked one of the local plumbers to build a flushing toilet for her,” said Tetani.
Talking about housing development in the area, he said it was unclear.
However, he said he would approach the City officials to see if Dyalivane could be prioritised.
“My concern is shack fires. Her situation needs serious intervention. And also, there are too many rats in this area because of illegal dumping,” he explained.