WHEN a dear childhood friend of Shirly Mashigo (60) died, she legally became the guardian of his four kids, whom she loves as her own.
But love alone cannot feed the kids, so Shirly applied to Sassa for their children’s grants.
Sassa, however, insists she must find the children’s mum before she can apply for their grants – but she is nowhere to be found and was known as a boozer when she abandoned the children.
Shirly, from Meadowlands in Soweto, came to Daily Sun hoping SunReaders could help her trace the kids’ mum.
She said she is struggling to take care of the children with the little money she has. “I knew the children’s father, Thabo Mthusi. He was a boy I was very fond off when we grew up together.
“I would usually take care of him.
“Thabo was shot and killed early this year, leaving his four children – Amanda (15), Nono (13), Ronald (11) and Hillar (8) without anyone to take care of them.
“I knew the mother, Lorrain Matshabi. She loved drinking a lot and would often be seen with different men.
“She abandoned the children and no one knows were she is,” said Shirly.
She said she had often looked after Thabo’s children and they also grew fond of her, as if she was their gogo.
“After Thabo’s death the children were placed in an orphanage. They begged me, saying ‘gogo we want to live with you’,” said Shirly.
She decided to raise them as her own and followed all the procedures and was granted permission to be their
guardian.
Shirly said she thought she would be helped by Sassa, but then she found out about their strict rules.
The People’s Paper contacted Sassa and spoke to Nandi Mosai, who said certain protocols and procedures had to be followed before grants could be issued.
“We need to verify the children were moved legally from the orphanage and that all the proper steps were taken during the adoption process,” said Mosai.
“Shirly can get a temporary child support grant by obtaining a court order while she waits for the process to unfold.
“But we will send representatives to visit her and determine how they can help,” Mosai said.
