Rehana in Port Elizabeth: Unite ‘spiritually, financially and emotionally’

‌Our story is one of many middle-class and low income earners. I’m married and have not been able to work for the past six years due to health reasons. I have a heart condition that regularly puts me in hospital for a number of day and so I have not been able to get a job. The other problem that stares us in the face is our age.

I have a son in Pietermaritzburg who does home renovations and his life has come to a standstill. He has two little daughters with basic needs to survive. He doesn’t know how he’s going to put food on the table. His wife works in retail. How will they get through an extended lockdown should it be implemented?

Our food will run out before month-end and my husband’s boss already said that since no contract has come through in this province, he is looking at retrenchment.

If the lockdown continues for longer than this 21 days, it will leave us in a position that we won’t be able to recover from easily. Debtors are still expecting us to pay. Will they feed us when we can’t buy food to feed our children? I have not applied for a Sassa grant since my health deteriorated.

So besides my husband’s salary which barely gets us through the month, we stay on bended knees believing there will be light at the end of the tunnel. I believe this too shall pass. Being without an income puts strain on the provider and stress on the rest of the family.

I feel that the ones who are able to assist the less fortunate should do so and not put everything in the government’s lap. It’s time that every able South African from all walks of life pull together and stand up to fight this pandemic, Spiritually, financially and emotionally.

We as a nation shouldn’t have people starving. We will make it through this — together. We are rich in many ways. Let’s fight for our survival by calling on each other in our time of need. And in this case everyone needs someone to call on.