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Grassy Park sisters Gertrude Dearham (75), Whilemina Coxson (80) and Belinda Goldschmidt (66) have nowhere to go.
Not only has the home they’ve shared for 15 years been reportedly sold but they’ve been allegedly conned out of a deposit they paid towards a new accommodation.
Normia Nguruve, a next-door neighbour who shed a light on the sisters’ plight, says she met the trio about three years ago.
“I have been in Grassy Park for five years and I’ve known them for two to three years. They always stayed indoors, and you would never see them outside.”
Working as a seamstress for a living, Nguruve knocked on their door one day to see if they needed any work done on their clothing.
“When I popped by, I saw that they really needed help with washing and that is how we became friends.”
The siblings ended up together when Goldschmidt became ill. “She was told to move from the cottage to the main house on the property and then she got pneumonia.
“The other sisters were staying in their father’s house in Grassy Park and moved out of their family home to stay with Belinda to take care of her.
“Their mother died, and the family home was given to their brother in the will so they could not return,” she claimed.
Nguruve further explains that they were approached by someone who claimed he was a lawyer who had alternative accommodation.
“In June, a person who claimed to be a lawyer said he was renovating a place in Grassy Park for them to stay.
“He came here and met with us, after which we signed a lease, and they gave a deposit for R2 500.”
However, since signing the lease and handing over the deposit the person has had excuses and then disappeared, she claims.
“We decided to go to the property in Grassy Park to see whether it was available and the neighbours said others had also come looking for him because they had transactions with him. “We went to the police station and opened a case,” she said.
However, People’s Post could not verify this information at the time of going to print.
Goldschmidt tells People’s Post that they were given notice to vacate the property months ago. “I was married to the owner of the house and when we divorced, I was allowed to stay in the cottage on the property,” says Goldschmidt.
The pensioners need to find accommodation in their limited budget range.
“We can pay R2 500 to R3 000 and the rest of the money goes towards our food and electricity. We have R500 for groceries, use a gas stove and the electricity is R1 000 a month.”
She further explains that they can’t return to their family home as their brother had since passed on and the property now belongs to his widow.
“My brother who lived in the same house got married and has since passed away, now the house belongs to his wife, and we can’t move back there. “We really need to find a place to stay.”
