A 74-year-old granny is angry with the Department of Health and Social Development because she has not received her old-age grant since August last year. Tshinakaho Mushidzhi of Khubvi Village, north of Thohoyandou, says she has done everything to have her grant reinstated, without success.

Every time she goes to the local pay point she receives a receipt printed: ‘Account Unregistered’ and the next payment date also appears. This is all she has received from the Department of Health and Social Development for the past nine months.

During our visit, Tshinakaho was busy picking up wild vegetables in the bush next to her home. Her mud rondavel’s kitchen roof has fallen apart due to termite destruction. “I depend on wild vegetables and hand-outs because I no longer have a source of income. Sometimes I go to bed on an empty stomach, because I solely depended on my old-age grant to buy food and other basic needs. My world has changed into a living hell since the misfortune befell me. What wrong have I done to deserve all this?”

Ironically, Tshinakaho has been looking after her unemployed son Nkumedzeni (32) and her granddaughter, Lutendo, who is in Grade 7 at the local Gilbert Ndanganeni Primary School. Tshinakaho says she feels betrayed when she sees other senior citizens getting paid while she returns home empty-handed time and again.

She said she went to Makwarela and Thohoyandou offices to have her problem solved, but nothing ever happened. “I went to Thohoyandou and Makwarela several times. Officials there filled in some forms and told me that the problem would be solved but I’m still suffering. I no longer have money to travel to the offices because I have no source of income. How long must I suffer as a result of someone who is failing to do his job?”

Nnditsheni Mudau of the Vhembe Department of Health and Social Development said Tshinakaho’s problem is a result of an ID number duplication mistake. “After an intensive investigation, we discovered that Tshinakaho is sharing her ID number with someone else in Kwazulu-Natal. We are liaising with the provincial department to have Tshinakaho’s problem solved as a matter of urgency. She will definitely get all her money in the near future, because we believe it won’t take long to rectify the mistake.”

Mudau says the department will provide Tshinakaho with social relief in the form of food parcels, as early as next week, until her problem is solved. “She has been registered in our social relief database and we will always be there to assist her.”