By Buziwe Nocuze
- Xolelwa Mtikrakra from Delft works as a housekeeper to help pay for the special needs of her young autistic child.
- Xolelwa Mtikrakra says the government disability grant is not enough to cover high transport costs and expensive medical consultation fees.
Raising an autistic child is expensive for Xolelwa Mtikrakra. The housekeeper from Delft in Cape Town says she spends a lot of money to keep her 11-year-old son happy.
Her son, Iviwe, needs things done a certain way. If Mtikrakra gives him clothes with a fabric he does not like, he tears them. If she gives him food he does not want, he goes outside and throws it away.
Mtikrakra changed her family’s diet to match his needs. She stopped buying cereal, pork, sausages, beans, tins and peas.
“My child eats chicken and beef. We have stopped eating a lot of things because it would not look good if he eats alone and we eat a different meal,” she said.
The family now eats spinach, cabbage, fish, burger noodles, eggs and milk. Even then, he sometimes asks for chicken and pap, but changes his mind and demands eggs or bread when the food is ready.
His medical bills are high. Mtikrakra pays up to R1,800 for consultation fees and R1,200 for an injection. She also pays R175 for school fees and R650 for transport.
The injection helps him speak and controls his hyperactivity. Before he started getting the injection, the boy would go missing and run all over the place.
He gets a R2,300 disability grant, but Mtikrakra says the money is not enough.
“I am grateful that I am working. Otherwise, if I was not working, things would be difficult for me,” she said.
To save money, Mtikrakra no longer goes out. She also stopped taking her son to the barber and bought a machine to cut his hair at home.
Pictured above: Iviwe Mtikrakra, an 11-year-old autistic boy from Cape Town.
Image source: Xolelwa Mtikrakra
