Foster mom receives a miracle

VAALWATER – This Mother’s day will be extra special for a foster mother of six children after she was notified that she would be able to receive a social grant for her kids after a seven year struggle.
Lizette Naudé has been battling authorities after applying for social welfare money for the six children placed in her care.
“Three of my children are foreign nationals whose parents passed away,” Lizette explained. “I was told by a representative of the department of home affairs to take them back to the border where they would be moved to a place of safety.”
The children cared for by Lizette come from abusive backgrounds where it seems they were physically abused and neglected. Two of the children have been so traumatised that they are unable to cope in a normal school environment.
Lizette took the first child, a boy, in after his parents were involved in a domestic fight one night and his father killed his mother. She claims that the police had left the infant at a shop near her house and when her helper found out about the abandoned boy she alerted Lizette who took him in and raised him as her own.
Two little girls followed later when she was contacted by social workers of the Vaalwater area who asked if she could harbour them because they were taken away from their biological parents.
The Naudé’s little family grew until they had six children in their midst and then they were stricken with the earth-shattering news that Lizette’s husband, Dawid, had brain cancer. After a short battle with the illness he passed away and left Lizette with a house full of children and no monetary means of surviving.
Lizette refused to accept that there was no-one who could assist her in South Africa. After both home affairs and SASSA refused to help, she decided to contact a DA councillor in Lephalale, Astrid Basson.
“I could not believe it when two SASSA vehicles stopped in front of my house and kindly escorted me to their offices where I was promised not only my monthly allowance, but also back pay for the past two years!”
 “I believe that God is going to perform miracles with my children,” Lizette said “I have learned that there is no such thing as a stupid child – some children just need more care and attention - they are all clever in their own way. Even if the schools say otherwise.”
This special mother alleges that her situation was so dire last year that she had to ask for donations just to clothe her children. “I took pieces of material that I got from other people and made clothes for my children,” Lizette said. “This year I will be able to spoil all my children with brand new clothes for the winter!”