NEWS: Neighbours concerned as PE man, 80, lives in squalor

The plight of a frail 80-year-old Port Elizabeth man was brought to the attention of the authorities this week after concerned neighbours complained about the sorry state of his living conditions and the putrid stench from his home.

 

But Bobby Goosen, of 37 Kirkwood Street, in North End, refuses to budge or admit that there is anything wrong.

This is despite neighbours saying someone needs to step in urgently and rescue the old man, who uses crutches and battles to walk to the toilet, situated outside his home and with no running water.

Neighbours say Goosen’s toilet is broken and that holes made in the wooden floors of his home have been used as a toilet. He also relies on his neighbours for water.

“Someone needs to do something to help. My house is very clean but the smell coming from my neighbour’s house affects my family. I pay my bond and rates each month but I feel like I am living in this old man’s toilet,” Mzameni Maldaki, a father of three children, who has been a neighbour of Goosen’s for 19 years, said.

Maldaki said the situation started to deteriorate four years ago. He reported it to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, but no action was taken.

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal, said holes made in the wooden floors and used as a toilet were now overflowing with sewage.

“We went to help the old man, but I had to turn back when I started heaving because of the stench. It cannot be healthy for him or us to live in these conditions.

“Surely this old man must have family who can intervene, or the authorities need to take some kind of action urgently. It is in fact very sad,” the neighbour said. Another neighbour, only known as Barry, who lives three houses away, said Goosen desperately needed help.

 

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