Lydia van der Pohl lived in Ou Skip.

Two months after her death, a former resident of Ou Skip has still not been buried. Lydia van der Pohl (76), a feisty former netball champion, died at the end of January in a provincial hospital. Her body was taken from the hospital by a funeral parlour from Atlantis. It is reportedly still there.

Described as “very private,” Lydia preferred to spend her days on her own. She attended the local Edge Church, whose members drove her to and from church, and had a friend or two. According to someone who wants to remain anonymous she had no family, apart from a cousin with whom she fell out years ago.

Forced to get help
During Lydia’s last sickness, her privacy became something of the past. She was forced to ask for help when she became too weak to get up unaided. Assistance came, but with it came a problem. While cleaners were busy in the house, Lydia’s two cats, Dottie and Fluffy, about whom we reported before, escaped.* The cats did not return to their home and would later have to be rescued by volunteers of Peanut Animal Welfare.

Lydia was very frail by this stage, and she died shortly afterwards in hospital. “She was a feisty, lovely woman,” someone recounts. She became suspicious of people because of things that happened to her. What was sweet was that she had been alone for five years, but had people around her for the last two weeks of her life.”

Since Lydia died in a provincial hospital, province is responsible for her burial or cremation. Should she be buried, it will be in an unmarked grave without a tombstone.

*Melkbos.net erroneously reported in our story of 5 April “Dae met Dooie Eienaar” that the two cats had been locked up for days with their dead owner. We apologise for the error.