The Victor Khanye Local Municipality (VKLM) office of the Mayor intervened in assisting a local disabled minor to receive a wheelchair.
On 2 March Siphamandla Innocent Mtshweni, 10, was presented with the requested wheelchair by the VKLM Council, Executive Mayor Cllr Vusi Buda, Speaker Khaya Segone, Chief Whip Sponono Mahlangu, MMC for Finance and Economic Development Services Henry Ngoma, Ward 3 Councillor Tebogo Malomane and Mbuyelo Coal Jenny Miodise.
Mtshweni has a condition called cerebral palsy which began showing at the age of one(1). Cerebral palsy is an innate movement disorder caused by abnormal brain development, in most cases before birth and in rare cases after birth at earlier stages of an infant’s life. Mtshweni’s condition includes inflated bends, floppy and rigid limbs and he therefore cannot stand balanced on his own, needing support. According to his mother, Thandi Masombuka, he looked normal when he was born and only began showing the symptoms of this chronic condition from the age of one.
Masombuka lives in a tiny RDP house at Extension 4 in Delmas with her two kids including Mtshweni, her aunt and sister and only started working at local pharmacy as a scanner from January 2021. “My aunt went to the mayor around November and December in 2020 for a wheelchair for the child,” said Masombuka.
The Office of the Mayor responded to the request through the assistance of Mbuyelo Coal, the Manungu colliery to get the wheelchair for the 10-year old Mtshweni. “We are with the representative from Mbuyelo Coal and when we called for help here at home they responded to this call to assist as usual when we are faced with similar situations and we would like to express our gratitude to them… this organisation we serve, the ANC, is that we are committed to keep our promises and if people are asking for our assistance we do exactly as they expect us to do,” said Mayor Cllr Buda. “We are here to present the wheelchair and as agents of “khongolose”. This family said it needs a wheelchair for their child and we have brought it…,” said VKLM Speaker Segone. Segone was referring to the launch hosted late 2020 by the Office of the Speaker to recognise and incorporate people living with deafness into the VKLM society.
