Siphokazi Mila’s life was changed forever when, in 2016, she was shot multiple times in her upper and lower body in an attempted hijacking in Gugulethu.
The 29-year-old bedridden Khayelitsha resident was with friends when a group of heavily armed criminals attempted to hijack the car in which she was travelling with friends one night.
But the car doors were locked and the driver managed to flee from the criminals. However, the criminals fired multiple shots at the car, with seven of them hitting her. She was the only one in the car who got injured.
The bullets struck her in her limbs and spine, paralysing her. Ms Mila said when the doctors broke the news to her that she would never walk again, her world crumbled.
In addition to this, she said, doctors informed her that there was still one bullet in her backbone that they could not remove.
She said since the incident she has not been able to find any joy in her life.
Ms Mila shares a three-roomed home with her father, sister and nephew in Tsepe Tsepe informal settlement in Khayelitsha.
Ms Mila said she has a wheelchair but it had always been a mammoth challenge for her to navigate her way out of the house and through the area because the space between the shacks was too narrow.
“I have attempted suicide because of this frustrating condition,” she told Vukani.
“I spent most of my time in bed. I’m always in pain because of this bullet that is still in my back.
“I was sitting at the back of the car when these guys shot us. It took some time for me to accept my condition. Life is not easy at all. I appeal to anyone who can assist us to do so.
“My sister must always be around so that she can assist in whatever I need. I can’t even move around the house. I feel like I’m a burden; that is why I wanted to kill myself,” she said.
Ms Mila said her father was the only breadwinner in the household, but he did not have a permanent job. She said she uses her R1 600 disability grant to assist the family but it was not enough.
She said she was no longer able to attend her medical appointments because she could not afford to pay for transport every time she needed to see doctors. She explained that the transport she usually hired would charge her R250 a trip.
When Vukani contacted ward councillor Xolisa Peter, she said she was not aware of Ms Mila’s dire sitaution but she promised that she would visit the family to assess the situation.
Department of Social Development, spokesperson, Cayla Murray. said the provincial Department of Social Development funded organisations, such as the Association for the Physically Disabled (APD), which provide support for individuals in similar situations to that of Ms Mila.
Ms Murray said the department also deployed social workers who were able to assist disabled persons with counselling to overcome any trauma associated with their disability, but the provision of accessible housing was the responsibility of the City council and the provincial Department of Human Settlements.
Vukani was unable to get further information about the status of the investigation into Ms Mila’s hijacking as police were unable to track the case without a case number.