A 46-year-old living in Gugulethu fears for his life, not because of thugs or the prospect of imminent violence, but due to his living conditions.
Mfundo Bangani, who suffered kidney failure more than two years ago, said the plummeting temperatures and continuous downpours were further complicating things.
The Kanana informal settlement resident said he was diagnosed at Groote Schuur Hospital three years ago.
His kidneys are not functioning and he relied on daily dialysis to survive, something he describes as depressing.
However, Bangani’s living conditions threaten to make life even more precarious.
He said he was on stage 5 of his condition and on the brink of giving up.
The least he needs is a decent home to live in with his family.
“I was diagnosed with kidney failure in 2020, after I’d been in and out of hospital for a long time. I’ve been using the dialysis machine to drain the water from my body since early last year. It takes a whole eight hours to do this. I normally do it in the evening and sleep with the tubes in my body.”
When City Vision visited he was busy injecting his dialysis bags with antibiotics to continue his treatment and clean the infection.
Bangani stated his life was in danger because of the “unhygienic environment” he is living in.
He said according to doctors he was supposed to stay in a clean area.
“I’ve had an infection three times since I started using this machine. This is for the third time now. My body becomes painful when I have the infection. It feels as if something is pricking me. It’s so painful.”
Bangani added he was concerned about dying from an infection.
He said Groote Schuur was providing him with dialysis bags every month to use at home.
The father of two said he receives 30 dialysis bags monthly and another five manual dialysis bags to use in load shedding.
“It is tough. The last time I went home to Keiskammahoek, in Eastern Cape, was in 2018. I can’t travel long distances without the dialysis machine. I have to lie down when I put it on, which is why I normally use it in the evening. Maybe I’ll go home with a coffin.” He added that he swells when he does not drain the water.
Ward 40 councillor Bongani Ngcombolo said he was aware of Bangani’s plight.
He stated there were other disabled people in the area who he believed also deserved better living conditions.
“The issue of the housing project in Kanana is not clear,” said Ngcombolo.
“The area is part of the Southern Corridor Housing Project launched in 2019. But there has been little development since it was established. There are fewer than 200 people who were relocated to that area.”
He added more pressure would be put on the department.
