White pensioners increasingly homeless, totally destitute in South Africa without family networks

White pensioners increasingly homeless, totally destitute in South Africa Cape Town - The ARgus. Less than a week ago, 77-year-old pensioner Maureen Green was settling into a room she had just started renting in a house in Hout Bay. But three days later she was asked to leave. And for the past five days she’s been sleeping in a yellow car beneath the trees in a parking area near the beach. The car she shares belongs to another pensioner, Arthur, a man she had recently met and who has been living in his Datsun for two years. Arthur did not want his surname published. Green has never been homeless before and is battling to adapt. She says she cannot sleep in the bushes on the mountain where the other homeless people do and was grateful for Arthur’s car. But conditions remain unpleasant. On Wednesday she said: “Try sleeping in a car, my neck hurts, my back hurts. I haven’t bathed in four days, I’m perpetually tired, I’m not able to go out and make money.” She takes pride in the work she does, selling fridge magnets at traffic lights in Constantia. “My R1,300 pension is no good… I’m very homeless and I’m very sad,” she said. Green has moved several times since she stopped working as a caregiver, she says. She lived in Pinelands for five years, in a room in a house in Constantia for a year, at a backpackers for a month and in a friend’s garage for about six months, before she found a room to rent in Hout Bay. She approached a church and a woman there tried to help her, but in the end took Green to meet Arthur. “He has very kindly offered to let me sleep here,” she said. Arthur, 65, who also lives off his pension, has sought help from welfare organizations. He has moved around, living in his car in Somerset West, Strand, and Stellenbosch. He said he uses the cold water showers on the beach and sometimes people who visit the restaurants give him donations - which help him to get by. “Whenever I park somewhere, I look for a public toilet facility,” he said. Green is despondent but wants to remain positive. “I need a room to stay but I’d like to stay here because it’s convenient for me to get to work. I just want peace of mind.” Arthur added: “We don’t want luxury, we just want a roof over our heads. https://www.facebook.com/boerekrisisaksie/photos/a.178568022169751.48293.116298045063416/1066844473342097/?type=1&theater