Further boost for destitute woman

A Limpopo woman who was given a house by Limpopo Premier Cassel Mathale after staying in a shack with seven children and one grandchild since 2008, has received a further boost.

Well-known traditional healer Dr Sylvester Hlati has bought her furniture to the tune of R6 500. Safareka Violet Mathebula (whose first name means "the suffering one") was beside herself with joy when Mathale gave her the keys to the new house.

She said she had asked her mom why she called her Safareka, but she did not explain. All the while, she had lived in poverty. “I never thought my situation would ever change and I am thanking God who sent a messenger in the form of Greater Giyani Mayor Dorris Mathebula to help me. She is the one who brought my plight to the attention of the Premier,” Safareka said.

“The mayor came and took photographs of the shack I was staying in and sent it to the Premier. I am now staying in a house which is safe,” she said.

The unmarried mother of seven said she was staying with a lover who died in 2006 and she had been struggling to support her big family. “I was receiving food parcels from the Welfare Department and the mayor also assisted me with a part-time job. I am now able to buy some food for my children,” she said.

Mathale said the plight of the woman did not go unnoticed. “We must never throw away our culture of assisting one another,” said Mathale.

News - Date: 29 April 2011

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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