​GDSD Social Worker, Brenda Maluleke, has rescued Gogo Nthabiseng Malefane after receiving information from the residents of the of the Protea Glen community in Soweto about her unhabitable living conditions.
Maluleke is a Social Worker with the Gauteng Department of Social Development, Johannesburg Region, based at a satellite office at the Protea Glen.

She said that when she received the information, she immediately went to Josephine’s place, where she found her sharing a tiny room with a youngster.

“It was cold, and the conditions were not favourable for someone who was sick like Gogo Josephine. They did not have warm blankets, and their room was cold. I was touched by the whole situation,” says Maluleke.

“According to Gogo Josephine, she used to work as a domestic worker for a white woman, who later bought her a house. But to her surprise, one day the bank informed her that the house was going to be repossessed,” added Maluleke.

Gogo Josephine says her children died, the only one living is in Lesotho, and he doesn’t take care of her.

“I have my grandson with me here who is an orphan, and he could not continue with her school because his mother died before applying for his birth certificate. Now I must make sure that with my grant I buy them maize meal and soap to bath,” says Gogo Josephine.

Gogo Josephine has since been admitted to the Ephraim Zulu Old Age Home in Mofolo. Maluleke also ensured that her medical clinic file was transferred to Mofolo Clinic.

Maluleke says she feels good after helping one of her beneficiaries, and she believes that her job is a calling. She says there are good Social Workers out there who take their work very seriously.