THE Mogale city municipality has been apathetic in helping an elderly woman who has been living in darkness for 15 years - though all her neighbours have electricity.
Clara Kgasoane, 70, her daughter and two grandchildren live in one of the two houses in Munsieville, Krugersdorp, that authorities seem to have forgotten to electrify.
More than 15 years have passed and the municipality has since neglected to rectify the oversight.
The family lives in a two-roomed house with the third, additional room built with corrugated iron.
Although their home is about 5km from Krugersdorp CBD, it is as if they live in the middle of nowhere.
Their primitive lifestyle resembles the 1960s era of candles, primus stove, and battery radio.
They do not even have a fridge though their home is situated in the middle of a fully electrified township.
Kgasoane, who is bedridden, owing to a heart condition, communicates with difficulty, while describing her plight.
"I have spoken to every councillor about my problem," she said. "It seems I am a forgotten citizen. I cannot get help from anybody. I feel broken.
"The councillors have come and gone with their promises. Nobody seems to know what is happening.
"I went to the council offices and pleaded with them to put me on the waiting list on the next project for prepaid electricity. It has all been in vain."
Kgasoane's daughter, Esther Mokgothu, who has two children who have lived without electricity all their lives, said: "Last year we were promised that our house will be electrified but we are still waiting.
"I asked why they had overlooked our house and they told me we were not on the list. I am very sad.
"Some of my mother's medication needs to be refrigerated and the neighbours have been kind but I don't know for how long," Mokgothu said.
A new ward councillor, Tlhapi Thage, visited the family after Mokgothu went to Mogale City Municipality to plead for assistance.
The family said their plight was becoming unbearable, especially with the ailing Kgasoane
"I will advise them to apply for indigent status from the municipality so that they can get help," said Thage.
"Their rent and refuse service bill stands at R35000 as of November 2011."
Mokgothu said that she felt helpless.
"I lost count of how many times my mother visited the council. For all these years my mother had hope and lost it in the process," she said.
The owner of the second house, which does not have power supply, is a former Umkhonto we Sizwe combatant. He declined to comment.
Living in the dark
THE Mogale city municipality has been apathetic in helping an elderly woman who has been living in darkness for 15 years - though all her neighbours have electricity.
Clara Kgasoane, 70, her daughter and two grandchildren live in one of the two houses in Munsieville, Krugersdorp, that authorities seem to have forgotten to electrify.
More than 15 years have passed and the municipality has since neglected to rectify the oversight.
The family lives in a two-roomed house with the third, additional room built with corrugated iron.
Although their home is about 5km from Krugersdorp CBD, it is as if they live in the middle of nowhere.
Their primitive lifestyle resembles the 1960s era of candles, primus stove, and battery radio.
They do not even have a fridge though their home is situated in the middle of a fully electrified township.
Kgasoane, who is bedridden, owing to a heart condition, communicates with difficulty, while describing her plight.
"I have spoken to every councillor about my problem," she said. "It seems I am a forgotten citizen. I cannot get help from anybody. I feel broken.
"The councillors have come and gone with their promises. Nobody seems to know what is happening.
"I went to the council offices and pleaded with them to put me on the waiting list on the next project for prepaid electricity. It has all been in vain."
Kgasoane's daughter, Esther Mokgothu, who has two children who have lived without electricity all their lives, said: "Last year we were promised that our house will be electrified but we are still waiting.
"I asked why they had overlooked our house and they told me we were not on the list. I am very sad.
"Some of my mother's medication needs to be refrigerated and the neighbours have been kind but I don't know for how long," Mokgothu said.
A new ward councillor, Tlhapi Thage, visited the family after Mokgothu went to Mogale City Municipality to plead for assistance.
The family said their plight was becoming unbearable, especially with the ailing Kgasoane
"I will advise them to apply for indigent status from the municipality so that they can get help," said Thage.
"Their rent and refuse service bill stands at R35000 as of November 2011."
Mokgothu said that she felt helpless.
"I lost count of how many times my mother visited the council. For all these years my mother had hope and lost it in the process," she said.
The owner of the second house, which does not have power supply, is a former Umkhonto we Sizwe combatant. He declined to comment.
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