A Family of Brickmakers Struggle with Economy in Mthatha, South Africa

MTHATHA, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 20: Ntombelanga Mathshata, age 49, struggles with pain and a high fever as she waits for a meal of cabbage and rice cooked by her mother Ndenzeni Njwenene, age 82, on December 20, 2023, outside Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Ntombelanga, is often sick and was diagnosed with HIV several years ago. She needs nutritious food, which is difficult to eat daily with a combined monthly grant income of about 150 EUR. Ntombelanga often visit doctors and hospitals to get medicine. They live in a rented simple one-room house, and they make bricks nearby, which they sell to customers for about 10-euro cent each. Ndenzeni Njwenene moved from a rural area to Mthatha in 1967 and she has made bricks ever since to support her family. She had five children but have only her daughter Ntombelanga left. They face a daily struggle to eat and the government grant money they rely on every month only lasts for a couple of weeks. As for many people in South Africa there is an increasing struggle to eat properly due to extreme poverty, unemployment and high inflation. More and more children end up in hospital severely malnourished. (Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)