Hillbrow frail care centre residents in limbo as eviction notice looms

In the Hillbrow-based Tswelopele Frail Care Centre TV room, residents sat on the odd couch and plastic chairs, watching an old box TV placed in the middle of the room blaring and blurring while they waited to hear whether they have to move or not.

Last week Friday was supposed to be moving day, yet down the hall, two men were hard at work.

Anton Lingenfelder and his roommate, David Deysel, were busy making matchstick art.

They make anything from penholders and tissue box covers to photo frames to generate an income.

Lingenfelder has been living at the centre for seven years. “I go out to the streets alone in my wheelchair and ride around. Everyone here knows me. Sometimes I return with R120 from donations,” he said.

“People in Hillbrow are not bad people. I like the area,” he said. Lingenfelder said he would be sad to leave Hillbrow because he has made a lot of friends in the neighbourhood.

“On the other hand, my friends and family are scared to come to Hillbrow, so I don’t see them a lot,” he said.

Lingenfelder hasn’t received a visitor in two years. “To see my family more would be a bonus,” he said.

Tswelopele manager Joseph Letlala said he was feeling wounded from all the stress. He has had to start cutting some services because they didn’t know whether they would be evicted at month-end.

Letlala said he was still hoping for a miracle to pay off their debt and also to secure a new facility to continue their services.

“In 2019, the subsidies from our partners at the department were delayed for months and we were not able to pay salaries.

“In that year we also applied to the NLC for utilities and rent, like all the years, and they would help us. “But then the cooling period came,” he said.

Letlala said they only received R256 000 of the R 1.7 million they needed.

“Now the landlord wants his money. He has given us accommodation, but we owe him R3 million,” he said.

Letlala said they also applied for a bailout because they could see it becoming a problem. “To date, I have not had a response. We had 16 years of clean audits,” he said.

Social worker at Tswelopele Nnini Manual, said the thought of the centre closing broke her heart.

“We have built good relationships with the residents. They become like children,” she said. Senior Sister Nqobile Sibisi said the closure also saddens her. “I pray for an outcome because we deal with human lives,” she said.

NOW READ: Gauteng Social Development to close down ailing frail care centre