Elderly camp overnight for SASSA grants in freezing conditions
“This is the fourth time I’m sleeping out here.”
These were the words of unemployed father Leon Faro as he and other vulnerable Capetonians braved the cold on Monday night to be in line for assistance at the SASSA Local Office in Bellville.
He was one of dozens of elderly and disabled people who spent the night sleeping on cardboard wrapped in plastic, blankets, and layers of clothes, hoping to gain access to disability grants.
The first person in line arrived at 5am on Monday morning.
Faro shared his story, showing off his swollen hands from his disability, saying: Kyk my hande. Ek kannie werk’ie. (Look at my hands. I can't work)
“I’ve been trying for three months with no help. They keep telling me to come back with different documents.”
Returning with his documents and new banking details, he said: “If I don’t get help tomorrow (Tuesday), then I don’t know anymore.”
As he spoke to the Cape Argus sister publication, Daily Voice after 7pm on Monday night, he added: Ek het al hier geslaap. Dis my vierde keer nou.” (I've slept here already. This is my fourth time)
One woman from Elsies River said: “We need to sleep over a day before the time just to get help. It goes like this every day.
“The issue is we are not guaranteed that we will get help otherwise, you have to sleep outside again. It is a big problem.”
One man said he walked ten hours from Mfuleni to Bellville as he has screws in his legs after surviving a car wreck three years ago.
“We are putting our lives at risk just by sleeping outside, but what other choice do we have? You are not even guaranteed you will be helped.
“We have an issue with toilets because we need to walk to the garage and pay R5 to use the toilet, and it is late. The men have to walk with the women for safety,” he said.