Gugulethu activist Mthuthuzeli Mciki’s life is back to normal after his electric wheelchair was repaired by Ubuhlobo Women’s Society.
Mciki, who has no means to move due to his disability, said the wheelchair has been troubling him for more than two months. This was the result of a faulty controller.
“The problem was with the controller. When I took it to the supplier for service they told me that they can’t fix the controller alone. They have to change the whole engine to fix it. That is why the total amount was R12 600,” said Mciki.
As someone who depends on a disability grant for a living, he could not afford to have the wheelchair fixed.
He opted to publish his plight on social media and it paid off with Ubuhlobo coming to the rescue.
“Ubuhlobo was one of the organisations that contacted me. Other people were phoning me all the way from Eastern Cape because my story was also broadcasted on national radio stations,” he said.
Mciki expressed his gratitude to Ubuhlobo for granting him another opportunity to be mobile.
Ubuhlobo is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for women in the metro and its purpose is to assist people mainly from disadvantaged areas based on their needs.
Mciki said that when the wheelchair stopped working it severely affected his life. For the past few months, his life was stagnant.
“I received my chair on Friday 4 November and Sunday 6 November I went to their (Ubuhlobo) meeting which they held at JL Zwane Memorial Church to thank them for helping me. It means a lot to me and my family including the community at large. I will be able to move again and attend the community meetings as I’m active a lot in Gugulethu,” he said.
Mciki, who is a well-known activist for people living with disability, urged the community to stop discriminating against disabled people. He appealed to families to stop keeping the children living with disabilities indoors and let them play with other children.
Ubuhlobo president Nomfusi Mbeyiya described Mciki’s story as touching.
“We know Mciki as one of the activists in Gugulethu. After we heard his story on the radio we were so touched and decided to do something. We paid all the amount that was needed by the service provider,” said Mbeyiya, adding that it was not the first time they did such a thing.
“We have about five crèches that we adopted as an organisation where we support them every year based on their needs. And we have other awareness campaigns that we are involved in like gender-based violence and against substance abuse,” she stated.
