WITH food prices high these days, young mothers are finding it more difficult to support their children, especially with no help from the fathers of the children.
The COURIER spoke to four mothers from the informal settlement in Booysens who said they can’t keep up and what they need is for the fathers of their children to start supporting them respectively.
The mothers have one child each and can’t depend on the government’s grant to sustain themselves and the children. The fathers of their children do sometimes send money but it’s not enough to clothe and feed the children, pay school fees and provide other necessities. The mothers now mostly depend on food donations as they don’t have jobs to provide for their children.
One young mother is helped by her mother to raise her child and without the help of her mother, she doesn’t think she would be able to cope. The other three have to manage with the pressure of having a child all by themselves.
Phindile Nzimande said, “My other child lives with his father in KwaZulu-Natal and I am with one here in Joburg. Living in this poor environment I can’t provide for my child like other young mothers out there. Sometimes we wake up not knowing where the next meal will come from. I don’t want to be living like this for the rest of my life.”
All four mothers live in different shacks covered with plastic and boxes using a stove to cook and iron clothes. They use candles for light at night. With everything crammed together in their shacks, one mistake with a candle and the shack can go up in flames.
“Having a child is a blessing but being able to provide for your child is a challenge. If you can’t do that it’s a problem because you are affecting your child’s life. I want to see my child’s father and I want to be living happily without any money problems,” Phindile told COURIER.
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