A distraught mother of a seven-year-old mentally and physically disabled girl from Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape has made a desperate plea for a decent house suitable for her daughter’s needs.
Nomxolisi Maqutywa says her daughter also needs a wheelchair as she’s bedridden due to her disabilities.
Maqutywa is not working and she is a primary caregiver for her child. She alleges that she has applied twice for a wheelchair at St. Elizabeth hospital. Maqutywa says they stay in someone’s dilapidated prefab so that she can be closer to the hospital.
“I stay at home, I cannot work because I look after her, I frequently take her to hospital. I applied for a wheelchair in 2018 because I could see that she was getting tired of sleeping but I didn’t get it, I applied again last year and we still did not get it, so I am asking for help to get it. The house I stay in is not mine and it’s raining and I cannot build one because I cannot work,” says Mother Nomxolisi Maqutywa.
A neighbour took this matter to social media and people assisted, but the wheelchair they received from a donor is not suitable for the child’s condition.
“I’ve observed her situation for quite some time now and I’ve seen that there’s no improvement in the situation, no one is helping, and our leaders are failing. So I decided to take the matter to social media with the hopes that someone might be touched and donate anyhow. People did donate and those donations included food and clothes for the child, they did make a difference,” says Neighbour Zubenathi Mthwazi.
The Department of Health says the wheelchair has been ordered. Health Provincial spokesperson Yonela Dekeda says, “A complete assessment to determine the individualised needs of the child has been conducted at St. Elizabeth hospital by a mutual disciplinary team of health officials; a latter includes doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. A proper assistive device in a form of a bakkie that is a wheelchair for children has been ordered for the child and is expected to be delivered next month.”
However, the mother of this child says the hospital has been promising to provide the wheelchair for the past four years. -Reporting b Fundiswa Mhlekude and Nomzwanele Mngoma
