People living with albinism in the province have vowed to stand up and fight for their rights.
“We are not safe in the communities. People are calling us names like nkawu or mlungu. Sometimes we are physically or verbally abused by society,” said a livid Sonele Ntsundwana.
“We feel as if we are not welcomed in the community at all. People are attacking us because of our skin colour”.
Ntsundwana was talking to City Vision during a meeting for the Universal Change for Albinism Nobles (UCAN), an organisation that fights for the rights and protection of people living with Albinism.
The organisation was established early this year to protect and change perceptions around albinism in society.
Ntsundwana, who is the spokesperson for the organisation, said they are not asking for favours from anybody, but want to be treated like any other human being.
According to him, there is rooted hatred of people with albinism in communities.
Ntsundwana stated that their attack and harassment has to come to an end. He added that they feel marginalised by the society. He stated that their primary objective is to raise awareness about the albinism. He added that they are not comfortable with being labelled “albinos”.
“We are humans like everyone. Why are people referring to us as albinos, because albino is a condition that we are living with. It’s like someone having chronic diseases like Aids, Diabetes, Arthritis etc they are not labelled by their illnesses,” said Ntsundwana.
He appealed to the government to intervene and educate people about albinism. He described as a myth reports that the use of their skin or body parts helped people to get rich or helped in some of the societal challenges.