Maria Marhumeke, her four children and her elderly mother have yet again requested to stay with their neighbours for fear of living in a hazardous mud rondavel at Mambedi in Valdezia, near Elim.

This follows a year after the former construction project manager at Coghsta, Thabo Ledwaba, promised that a house would be built for the indigent family.

The family's makeshift shelter was destroyed by a rain storm which swept through Vhembe in October last year. After that setback, they built a mud rondavel, but now ants have gnawed away the thatched roofing and its poles. “This roof can fall on us at any time,” said Maria, pointing at the rafters covered with ants' soil.

The Valdezia-Mambedi Sanco branch feels that the municipality should treat the Marhumeke family as a disaster case and build them an RDP house. “This family is suffering, and God might punish somebody if this house were to collapse and bury them within the rubble,” said Sanco's chairperson Reggie Maluleke.

Makhado Municipality's spokesperson, Louis Bobodi, said that the municipality was not aware of the family's plight and promised to send Ward 28's Cllr Alpheus Mmbadi to assess the situation. Bobodi confirmed last Tuesday that Mmbadi had finally visited the Marhumeke and found that their living conditions were "unwelcome".

"We are still considering whether we should put them on an emergency housing list," said Bobodi. "Mmbadi found that whatever you (the journalist) said in your e-mail about the family's poor living condition is true."

Maria doesn't have an ID book; neither does she know her age. Her four children do not receive child support grants, since they do not have birth certificates. The two children, Witty (8) and Tinyiko (16), quit school early this year. “We had no uniforms and other kids were laughing at us,” said Witty.

Mambedi Senior Primary School's principal, Ms Rose Mdaka, said that she had persuaded Tinyiko not to quit school. “She quit school twice - last year and this year in January,” said Mdaka. “She said there was no food at home and that she wanted to move around seeking money.” Mdaka maintains that even today, when Tinyiko sees her on the street, she just runs away.

Maria Marhumeke said that she had lost all hope and faith. “We ask our honourable mayor to come and see our pain,” said a weeping Maria.