Children abandon 80-year-old granny

Community members in Makokoba, Bulawayo, have taken over the welfare of an 80-year-old woman who has apparently been abandoned by her children.

The octogenarian, identified as Gogo Khethiwe Ncube, was discovered by neighbours on Friday noon in a sorry state without anyone to take care of her.

Neighbours who spoke to Newsday were still in shock over her deplorable state.

"Gogo MaNcube has been living alone for a while now. She was last seen outside about four days ago and today, we saw flies buzzing from her window. Luckily, the ward councillor came and we requested his permission to break in.

"We found her in a sorry state. When we attempted to sit her up, she had maggots coming from her body," the neighbour said.

An elderly neighbour who also spoke on the condition of anonymity said the sorrowful incident was history repeating itself.

"We are not happy with this. She has about 11 children, all of them doing well. One of them is a pastor or a prophet at a flamboyant pentecostal church in Townsend. We heard she lives in Cowdray Park.

"MaNcube was once sick and we called her children and told them to look after her, but one by one, they ran away. If your mother is a witch or a prostitute, she does not stop being your mother. So, whatever they have against her does not justify this kind of treatment," the neighbour added.

None of the Makokoba residents has currently communicated with any of Gogo MaNcube's children and NewsDay could not reach them for comment.

Ward 7 (Makokoba) councillor Shadreck Sibanda confirmed the incident.

"People discovered a bad odour coming out of her house and requested to break in. So, we found Gogo MaNcube in bad condition.

"It has been a couple of days since she collapsed and her body had begun to decompose while she was still alive.

"She was now maggot-infested. We then called an ambulance and took her to Mpilo Hospital after cleaning her," Sibanda said.