The elderly woman lives with David and David’s mother (Tondi), though she does not seem to be related to them. David esteems the elderly woman because he notices that adults esteem her and because she seems to perceive him accurately. At the same time, he’s afraid of her because one time, she caught him misbehaving and pinched him until he cried. After David’s mother is arrested, the elderly woman finds David and puts him to bed. The next morning, she tells David to wait at the house for his father while she goes to look for David’s mother and tries to bring her home. While the elderly woman is gone, David’s father arrives at the house without explaining who he is and scares David so badly that David runs away, eventually becoming Tsotsi.