Alfred Moselakgomo

A disabled mother and her similarly disabled son are being left penniless and hungry because her daughter goes on boozing sprees using their disability grants.

As a result Maria Makari Aphane and her three children now depend on their neighbours and relatives for survival.

The three live in Marapyane in the KwaMhlanga area of Mpumalanga.

Aphane told Sowetan yesterday that she had trusted her daughter Aletta to collect hers and her son's disability grants on their behalf.

"But instead of bringing the money she buys booze for her friends," she said.

Aphane and her 15-year-old mentally disturbed son, Tshepo, get R1000 each a month.

Aphane said her daughter has since moved out of her two-roomed shack and was living with friends elsewhere and only came home when it was time for pension payout.

"I have tried to inform social workers in Marapyane but they refused to listen."

Aphane said she had contacted other family members for assistance but had to back off when Aletta obtained a protection order against them.

But Aletta, 22, accused her mother of abandoning them for nearly a year when she allegedly went to live with her boyfriend in Nylstroom in Limpopo.

"I use the money to buy school uniforms for my siblings but obviously I cannot buy them clothes every month.

"It's not true that I spend the money on beer," she said.

Dumisani Mlangeni, Mpumalanga social development spokesperson, said they would investigate the matter.