ALI MPHAKI
THE confines of living in an institution are having an effect on the Soweto old-age home couple who rekindled a 10-year-old love and tied the knot on Valentine’s Day. They now want their own home.
Seven months after their wedding, which received wide coverage, the couple say despite the ups and downs that go with any relationship, they are still very much in love. What has dampened their spirits, however, is that the bride, Joyce Dlamini Tshanda, was admitted to the frail-care unit of the home on Friday due to a hip problem.
“I don’t know how long I will be kept in this unit… I am missing my husband,” she said.
Husband Ben Tshanda, 69, who is blind, said the nights without his wife had felt like 100 years.
“I’m so lonely. I can’t sleep. I don’t eat. I miss her so much,” he said.
When the couple met at the home two years ago, they rekindled the love they had found more than 10 years previously at another home.
Tshanda was brought to the home by police after they found him homeless in Soweto. Joyce, who was seated on the veranda of the home, immediately recognised him when he was brought in. The couple have been living together ever since.