IKWEZI Lokusa Special School principal, Mzontsundu Gulwa, has expressed gratitude for a generous donation of 20 wheelchairs donated to learners at the school by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) on August 6.
Gulwa said the donation would go a long way towards minimising the shortage of wheelchairs for the learners, as some had been using old wheelchairs which hampered their movement.
The wheelchairs were handed over to the school by Deputy Correctional Services Minister, Inkosi Phathekile Holomisa.
“We are thrilled by what the department has done because we were running short of wheelchairs and some of them were old. This donation means those who will use them will be very happy to have new wheelchairs,” said Gulwa.
Gulwa further lamented that, as an institution that caters for learners with special needs, they still faced a lot of challenges.
“Money is never enough and, unfortunately, the learners we are handling are very expensive to maintain when it comes to things like assistive devices, be it medical or curriculum-based devices, that parents cannot afford and the money from the Department of Education is never enough to plug that hole. That we have people and institutions from outside that are donating to the school makes us very happy,” Gulwa added.
Holomisa said the handover of the wheelchairs was fulfilling a promise his department made in 2019.
“We had promised to deliver some wheelchairs to needy learners of this school in 2019 and today we were fulfilling that promise by handing over 20 wheelchairs, which we acquired through a partnership we have with the Hillside Foundation.
“Because we believe in self-sustenance and self-sufficiency for the department itself, by using land that is at our disposal to produce food for our inmates, we have extended that approach to Ikwezi Lokusa Special School by preparing land at the school to plant vegetables that are to be used by the inhabitants of this institution,” Holomisa said.
The wheelchairs were assembled by inmates as part of the offender labour programme. Ikwezi Lokusa Special School caters for learners with cerebral palsy and other orthopaedic challenges. – LUVO CAKATA
