The woman has since been placed in a safe home where she has received basic comforts that many take for granted, a warm meal, a shower, clean clothes and a secure place to rest.
For nearly three months, an elderly woman and her 33-year-old son lived hidden away behind an electrical substation on church property in New Germany, Durban, with no one knowing they were there.
The heartbreaking discovery was made after an elderly community upliftment initiative, The Elders Voice KZN, received an alert about their living conditions on a Sunday evening.
When the organisation visited the site the following day, they found a scene of desperation, a torn tent, a makeshift shelter and a 66-year-old woman who had been left vulnerable after suffering a stroke in February.
The elderly woman was barefoot, dishevelled and exhausted, but when help was offered, her response was not about food or possessions. Instead, she expressed one simple wish: to feel human comfort again.
