Help, my sister is a hobo

SHE sleeps in passages and almost anywhere in the squatter camp.

She takes whatever she can find to cover herself. Sometimes, people just pass her by, not realising there's a person lying there.

Nthabiseng Molele said she desperately needs help for her younger sister.

She said her younger sister is deep into drugs, which scares her family. They worry that one day she might get killed.

The woman from Makause in Germiston, Ekurhuleni, said sometimes her sister vanishes, and they can't trace her whereabouts.

"She would come back after a few days, very high. She's so addicted. I don't think she notices some of the strange things she does," she said.

A few weeks ago, Nthabiseng found her sister sleeping under an old dirty rug she had found in the street.

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"She rolled it over herself and slept."

She said her sister started associating with the wrong people and ended up getting hooked on drugs.

"When I see her in this condition, my heart breaks. I'm appealing to those who read this story to help us. It's hard to accept, and the way things stand, you never know if she's been taken advantage of by men," Nthabiseng said.

Community leader Daniel Letswalo said he was moved to see the woman in such a state.

"We wish her life could change for the better. We also want her to be willing to accept change. It won't help if we take her to rehab by force. She must be willing to go."

Gauteng spokesman for Social Development, Motsamai Motlhaolwa, urged the elder sister to go to social workers in Germiston and request to be taken to the substance abuse unit, where she'll be given forms to fill out to start the process.