87 and dancing for joy! Gogo finally gets a house

Octogenarian Nonikile Zazeka does not fully comprehend the significance of the Women’s Day‚ but yesterday it meant the world to her.

The frail 87-year-old has spent most her adult life in Cape Town sharing a shack at the Thabo Mbeki Informal Settlement with her children and grandchildren. Yesterday she became a proud owner of a two-bedroom flat with running water and electricity in Delft.

“I have lived in a shack for more than 20 years‚” said Zazeka. “I can’t explain my joy. I may not understand what this day is about but to me it is very special day that will not fade from my memory.”

She said she could not afford a better place with her state pension. “The living conditions in the shacks are not humane. I have been on the housing waiting list for as long as I can remember‚” said Zazeka.

“I got very sick because of my living conditions but my prayer to God was that he must spare my life until my offspring get a proper home. My husband died in an old age home because we did not have a proper place to care for him during his sickness.”

Human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela also gave homes to two other elderly women. He said he was touched by Zazeka’s living conditions when her plight was brought to his attention in June.

“We are happy as the department that we have been able to change the lives of the elderly‚” said Madikizela. “But I am bitter at the same time because we should not wait this long to give them homes.

“When I was called to see the old woman’s living conditions I said to myself‚ ‘this is not acceptable’. The need for housing is bigger than the resources we have but we cannot celebrate more than 20 years of freedom when the elderly live in those conditions.”

Another recipient‚ Nokilina Ndabeni‚ was also grateful. “I am very happy that we have running water inside the house. I also have two bedrooms and privacy‚ unlike in the shacks we lived it. It feels like a dream‚” she said.