Marilyn Mills, Muizenberg
There are so many elderly pensioners living in squalid conditions. Some in shacks, in wendy houses, in garages and spare rooms and, worst of all, the street.
As a pensioner myself, it pains me to see my peers with so little for themselves.
I have my own little house, which keeps me warm and dry and safe.
Every time I pass through under the bridge at Muizenberg, I see the other side of life. There is an old couple living there. Do they even receive a pension as they have no fixed address?
After a recent storm, I gave them coffee and soup and was horrified to feel how icy their hands were! At night they curl up together in their blankets under a draughty bridge, vulnerable to the elements and the criminals. In the morning, they have to pack it all up to make room for pedestrians to walk by on the pavement. Where do they go and what do they do with their time?
I see them sitting on a low wall on the pavement watching life and cars go by and am amazed when the lady still has a smile for me as I drive by. Where are their families?
What an empty life. No cupboards to store food or clothes, so what do we give them to help make their life better?
A smile and a greeting lets them know that they are seen and are not invisible. But this certainly does not seem enough, not ever!