Widows face ending up on the streets

Families of their late husbands threatening to evict them from homes

SEVERAL Langa widows are staring homelessness in the face as they have been threatened with eviction by the families of their late husbands.

The widows – one of whom in her sixties – said they had been mistreated by the relatives, and they were tired of the abuse.

The area’s Community Policing Forum (CPF) has now appealed for legal help for the widows.

Portia Ngcume’s husband died in 2004. She said the thought of having to leave the house she raised her two children in was heartbreaking.

She and her late husband shared the house with her sister and her husband, who has also died.

The two widows received letters on Sunday that the house was to be sold and they needed to leave within five days.

Ngcume said they were not consulted. “I feel like I don’t matter to them. Now that my husband is gone, I am being discarded. I married my husband 35 years ago and gave him and his family my entire life. My sister got married 15 years ago, and is not taking this well,” she said.

Ngcume alleged that the house belonged to their husbands’ mother and was left to her two children and their spouses.

“Our husbands inherited 50% of the house, and now that they have passed on, we are here to represent them,” she said.

Langa CPF chairperson Zanele

Mbizela said residents have had to intervene several times in situations where widows were chased out of their homes.

Mbizela said everyone had an obligation to help because they had lived with them in the community for

A widow can go to the domestic violence court for a protection order Sehaam Samaai Women’s Legal Centre director

many years. “Why are these vulnerable women discarded like trash after dedicating so many years to their marital families?”

She said married women dedicated their lives to building their husbands’ homes and unite their families, yet as soon as the husbands died, they were abused.

Nikiwe Kulati, 60, said fighting an eviction battle was physically draining, and she didn’t wish it on anyone.

Women’s Legal Centre director Sehaam Samaai said the centre dealt with similar cases involving family feuds over property ownership. It was established to defend and protect the rights of vulnerable and marginalised women, in particular, black women.

She said that when dealing with such cases, it was important to know who owned the property before any steps could be taken.

Samaai said there were lawful ways of evicting people, and the executor had to follow the legal route.

If the legal processes are not followed, the widow can go to the domestic violence court and get a protection order.

“Families often use cultural phenomena and discriminate against women.

“They need to educate themselves in terms of the type of marriage they enter into, as well as familiarise themselves with the laws surrounding marriages,” she said.

Anyone wishing to assist can contact Mbizela on 073 647 2370.