Pensioners John Pluim (64) and his wife, Anna (62), from Ocean View never imagined that one day they would find themselves on the street.
But as circumstances would have it, the couple were evicted from a family property on Friday 5 April.
Their furniture is strewn on the pavement near the property where they were evicted.
“Most of our clothes we could save, and our furniture,” says John.
Explaining how they came to be on the streets, he adds: “The house belonged to my mother, she was very old and left the property to her grandchild who she raised.”
In the days that the couple have been on the streets, they erected a small structure against the elements, which has been dismantled by law enforcement officers for being built illegally.
“My mom died around two and a half years ago and we stayed in her house, it was run down and I had to repair everything.
“This included from the roofing and walls to electricity and water,” he said.
“Currently, we have nowhere to go, all my wet and broken furniture has been thrown in the bush and on the pavement.”
Despite his circumstances, John, who is a carpenter by trade, says all he needs is to find work to get back on their feet. “I have been a carpenter for 20 to 30 years, putting up decks, kitchens, and doors and I’ve worked in Ocean View and Fish Hoek,” he explains.
“I do roofing, wooden houses and decking as well as kitchens, but all my tools are gone.”
He is hopeful that he will find a lot of work to do, as he does not expect any “handouts”.
“There is a lot of work to do in the area. I would love for people to help me with work so that I can help myself. I am very serious about finding a job or two because I have been evicted twice in two days.”
His wife says she feels numb to be without a home.
“I can’t explain how I feel, I feel numb and I can’t understand why,” she says.
“We were renting a property opposite her house and before she died she asked us to move into her home and we also paid the rates. We gave up our place to look after our mother-in-law’s house.”
According to Anna, they were asked to pay R4 000 rent after her mother-in-law’s death but it was simply something they as pensioners could not afford.
“I promised my mother-in-law to take care of her house.
“I’m not so healthy anymore and I have cats and dogs and had to surrender them to Tears Animal Rescue because we have nowhere to go.”
Marius Waries, a family friend, is living with John on the streets while Anna is living at his (Marius) home.
“I’m trying to help look after their stuff because people started looting and law enforcement came to break the shelter down.
“Where are their human rights?
“How can they do it to elderly people? John comes from the Simon’s Town forced removals and now he is again on the street, it is not right.”
Waries reached out on a WhatsApp platform for donations to assist the couple.
Responding to the message, Felicity Purchase, speaker of the City of Cape Town council, wanted to ensure that the donations would not be used to erect a dwelling illegally on City land.
Purchase tells the People’s Post that the City cannot afford another illegal camp.
“They were evicted out of a private dwelling and someone erected a squatter dwelling on council land so the City’s Anti Land Invasion Unit was contacted to take down the structure,” she said.
“The City will keep removing the dwelling because it can’t afford another illegal camp.”
