For more than 20 years Ntanzana Nyaniso, now 76, has been confined to her NU13 home in Mdantsane with a crippling disease.
Nyaniso was diagnosed with elephantiasis in 1996 – a condition in which a limb or other body part becomes enlarged due to obstruction of the lymphatic vessels.
Both the elderly woman’s legs are affected, rendering her immobile.
Before she was diagnosed, Nyaniso worked as a domestic worker.
She used trains and taxis to get to work and back.
Nyaniso said the first sign was when she started feeling pain in her legs, and occasionally they would swell.
The pain grew worse and swellings longer and more frequent until it reached a point where she was unable to work anymore.
Now she is unable to care for herself. Her monthly state pension is the only source of income for the household.
She lives with her daughter Mandisa, 43, who has an unknown medical condition affecting her legs. A few years ago Mandisa had surgery on her left leg but it still hurts at times.
Mandisa said they cannot afford adult nappies for her mother, so they improvise with baby nappies.
She said they would buy a few bags at a time and use three or four stacked together.
“The money is not enough,” said Mandisa. “We also have to buy food and cleaning detergents to prevent bed sores, which is why we do not have money for the adult nappies.”
Nyaniso said she asked her daughter to move her bed next to the window “so that I could at least see the sun, as I don’t know what it feels like to set foot outside”.
A neighbour, Dickson Nenene, said Nyaniso was in desperate need of assistance.
“I wrote to the Dispatch with the hope that we could receive assistance with a mobile clinic because we had an incident where Mama fell sick during the night and we could not take her to the doctor. A mobile clinic could help with cases of emergency and a general checkup.”
Provincial health spokesman Lwandile Sicwetsha said the department would send someone to visit Nyaniso to assess the situation and find a way to help the family.
Mandisa said in the days leading up to elections, people canvassing for votes would promise to help her mother. However, nothing ever came of it.
She said she would appreciate a new bed because she has been using the same one for the past 20 years.
“The bed has become so uncomfortable I don’t know what a good night’s rest feels like.”..