A Weltevreden Park homeless man, Steven Ngwenya, is appealing for patience from local residents and for local authorities to stop harassing him.
Ngwenya told Roodepoort Northsider that he has spent many years without a roof over his head and uses the parks in the area as a home.
Also read: Former homeless man coaches children soccer
However, the desperate man has been moving from one park to the next due to complaints in the area about his settlement in the parks.
Ngwenya, who will be turning 51 late this year, said he grew up and worked in the area which is why he could not leave the suburb.
“I grew up in this area. I was brought up here, I even know the first ever shopping centre to be built in Weltevreden Park,” he said.
He added that the only possible option that would see him starting a new life elsewhere is when he receives the RDP house he applied for two decades ago.
“The only way to get out of here is if I can get a house in Roodepoort, Diepsloot, Dobsonville or Princess from the government. Then I would just visit the area when there is a job or someone I want to see,” Ngwenya explained.
The unhappy man showed the Northsider documents revealing that he had applied to the Gauteng Housing Department for a house in 1996. This year, Ngwenya marks 21 years without any action on his application and appeals to the Department to prioritise his matter urgently.
He also told the Northsider that he had to quit school at the age of 13 in Wilgespruit after the death of the man whom he knew as his father. He also mentioned that his upbringing was not normal compared to that of other children. At the age of sixteen, he said, he decided to drown his sorrows in alcohol. He said his alcohol habit resulted in criminal activities and arrests along the line.
After serving some jail time for various crimes he committed, he worked as a gardener at a church and delivered pamphlets for a local agency as well. Now that he is unemployed and suffering, although he receives assistance from some good Samaritans in the area who provide him with food and the odd piece job.
The Gauteng Housing Department has been approached for comment on the housing matter.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at northsider@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
