It was a poignant moment when Sipho Mabula thanked his 70-year-old mother for her patience and for allowing the department of roads and public works to build, paint and tile a spacious bathroom attached to their house.
Mabula is disabled and wheelchair-bound. Because he could not use the outside toilet at his home, he started to write letters to different government departments requesting assistance for a user-friendly bathroom.
He said the door to the outside toilet was too narrow for him to get through with his wheelchair.
MEC for roads and public works Dawid Rooi, as well as councillor Gladys Oliphant, were present when the contractors started building the new ablution facility, fitted with a bath, basin, toilet and rounded off with a modern ceiling last month.
GREAT RELIEF: A user-friendly bathroom has made disabled Sipho Mabula’s life a lot easier. Picture: Zandisile Luphahla
On Tuesday, the department handed over the ablution facility to Sipho Mabula.
The overjoyed Mabula said: “I am thankful for God, who heard my call and I thank him for working in the hearts of MEC Rooi and his staff. They are good people.”
His mother, 70-year-old Lena Jafta, who is also in a wheelchair, received grocery hampers on behalf of the household, which were donated by the ministerial offices.
Rooi said the acknowledgement of the needs of people with disabilities is an opportunity to focus on promoting accessibility and removing all types of barriers in society.
“Persons with disabilities often face barriers to participation in all aspects of society. Evidence and experience shows that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits,” Rooi said.
He said the barriers faced by disabled members of society were detrimental to society as a whole and accessibility was necessary to achieve progress and development for all.
Meanwhile, the province has been cited among the four whose annual inflation rate was higher than headline inflation.
Statistics SA revealed this yesterday as it released the country’s consumer price index (CPI), rose to 5.4% year on year in January
Northern Cape was rated at 5.8%; others were North West (6.1%), Mpumalanga (5.9%)‚ Limpopo (5.9%) and Northern Cape (5.8%).
Source : The New Age ( 21th feb 2013 )
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