IT has been a year since the Msimang family were forced to flee their home after it was destroyed during downpour of heavy rains.
Selby Msimang said the money to build his home was donated by an anonymous benefactor through his church and construction was completed in 2014. The water undermined a section of the foundation and a wall cracked and collapsed into the nearby river.
Selby contacted the eThekwini Municipality immediately to help push back the river. This task was only completed recently, months after his home was compromised.
The family have, by the grace of the Clermont community, been given refuge in the community hall.
Since the Highway Mail‘s article in May this year, the house has continued to be looted and vandalised. Walls have been smashed in and the roof beams have been stolen.
Left blinded by a stray pellet from a pellet gun in 1990, Selby relies heavily on his wife, Regina, to manoeuvre across the shell of his former home.
As the couple made their way to what was once their bedroom, Regina gasped with shock as she took in the damage done by vandals.
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Selby shuffles alone into the room, using his white cane to pinpoint out any debris in front of him. It clicks against a collapsed wall. He leans down onto his knees and runs his hands against the brick.
Tears well in his eyes.
“That anyone could do this to a blind man… It is things like this that that make me wish I was dead instead of feeling this pain,” he whispered.
Regina continued to describe the other three bedrooms in the house to her beloved husband.
“It hurts me so very much to see our house as it is now. It is just so sad,” she said. “We are going to have to start again from scratch as everything is missing.”
Looters have also stolen door frames, window panes and the windows. Vandals have used it as a hangout spot and broken glass bottles are strewn across the floor of each room. The toilets and sinks in the bathrooms have been stolen and smashed.
To make a donation to help the family rebuild their home, contact Asfrod on 083 955 2705.
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