Nyambeni Mandiwana
For thousands of people in South Africa, a proper wheelchair is an essential assistive gadget for people living with disabilities, such as many of Letaba Special School’s 170 learners.
The school in the Mopani district in Tzaneen does not currently have enough wheelchairs for each of its learners who need one. The school is also without an urgently-needed physiotherapist and enough pairs of special shoes.
Masechaba Ngobeni from Tzaneen said it is heart-breaking to see her disabled child being strapped with bed linen in a makeshift wheelchair.
“These learners can’t speak for themselves, so we must give voice to the voiceless. The Limpopo Department of Education must monitor the conditions at special schools in the province,” said the concerned parent.
Letaba Special School SGB member Jonas Mathebula said things are falling apart due to the negligence by the Department of Education in the province.
Mathebula said problems at the school have been ongoing since 2018.
The DA’s provincial spokesperson on quality of life for women, children and persons with disabilities, Katlego Suzan Phala, said the department is concerned that learners with disabilities are shortchanged by the Limpopo Department of Education.
The department, Phala says, does not provide adequate support to learners living with mobility challenges.
She said lack of safe and comfortable wheelchairs will compromise learning abilities. This, she says, will ultimately harm their employment opportunities, keeping more learners in the cycle of poverty.
“Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable and are routinely denied their rights to quality education, social assistance and health-care services, including therapeutic treatment,” she said.
“We call on Premier Stanley Mathabatha to assess the shortage of functioning wheelchairs at our special schools in the province,” Phala said.
She also called for Premier Mathabatha to issue a directive to the MEC for Education Polly Boshielo to correct this shortage.
Spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Education Tidimalo Chuene said the department is checking whether there is enough learning and teaching support material, facilities and infrastructure available to special schools.
