GEORGE NEWS - A 47-year-old woman and her 23-year-old daughter have caught the attention of passers-by in a George neighbourhood where they have been staying in their car for the past few weeks.
Jenni and her daughter, Samantha, are both unemployed, although they say they have tried to find suitable work.
"Temping jobs do not keep a stable roof over our heads," says Jenni. Now they, together with their two cats, live off donations from kind-hearted Georgians and some assistance from a local welfare organisation.
Jenni has two other children of school-going age who are in temporary foster care in George.
"I see them regularly and love them dearly. My biggest wish is for us all to live together again. Samantha often becomes depressed and misses her siblings."
Hard times
The family is from Pietermaritzburg. In 2012, Jenni says, she and her children escaped from an abusive marriage in Volksrust. They eventually landed up in Pietermaritzburg where she found a job at a local company.
"I made the mistake of letting the owner of the company into our lives. It seemed wonderful at the time as my children needed a father figure and we needed protection. My children were still very young."
But this relationship eventually turned out to be more of the same and she lost her job.
Subsequently, a court pronounced that it was unfair dismissal and that an amount in damages be paid out to her. This payment has yet to be released. Jenni approached the KwaZulu-Natal provincial office of the Legal Practice Council in 2022 and she says she is now waiting and hoping for a positive outcome.
In the meantime she and Samantha are trying to survive.
They arrived in George in 2021. "It was after Covid restrictions were lifted and my two children had to return to school. I ran out of petrol and money, so I found a job at a company in the construction industry and all was going well, but it closed its doors at the beginning of 2023, and since then I have been unemployed, save for some temporary work."
Living in their car
When they could not afford rent anymore, they started overnighting in the car at filling stations in town, but they felt unsafe. "Street sleepers would come to beg and pry, and one of the car windows was damaged. Where we are now, we feel much safer," says Jenni, who requested that their location be withheld.
She says she also tried being a car guard at Pick n Pay, Shoprite and Checkers. "But I am a redhead with very sensitive skin and I could not bear the damage to my skin anymore.
"Samantha got work at a car wash business, but was bullied by co-workers and almost got seriously hurt. She is timid and suffers from post-traumatic stress and her cats help her when she becomes anxious. Because of everything we have gone through, it is difficult to find a place for her to fit in."
Jenni becomes emotional when she talks about what they have been through and how they have to live. All their belongings are in the car, which she says was part of the damages claim, but has not yet been transferred to her name.
She cannot renew her driver's licence because of an outstanding fine issued for the lapsing of the vehicle licence.
"We cook on a little gas stove and wash in a small basin. It is not easy," she says.
Asked why they do not go to one of the local shelters, Jenni says pets are not allowed there. "There is no safe parking near these places and I cannot let our cats go because I promised my two other children that they would still be here when we are all together again. Our cats are trained and walk on leashes. They are part of our family and they bring us much joy."
* Jenni has asked that their surname be withheld.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
