Help better Simphiwe’s life
“He is forced to use a bucket inside the house to relief himself because it is impossible for him to use the outside pit toilet.”
KwaThema – The family of Simphiwe Masuku (13), of Ekuthuleni informal settlement, needs the help of the community to make his challenging disabled life bearable.
Siphiwe was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, which is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.
The disease weakens the muscle that begins in the hips, pelvis, and legs which makes it difficult for the patient to stand.
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Simphiwe started losing his mobility at the age of eight and before he knew it he could no longer walk and now depends on a wheelchair.
Simphiwe’s mother, Nikkie Mbini says because they are living in an informal settlement and it is difficult for her son to get around.
“We had to replace two of his wheelchairs within two months because the roads are not tarred.
“He is forced to use a bucket inside the house to relief himself because it is impossible for him to use the outside pit toilet.
“He can’t play with his friends because whenever he tries his wheelchair gets broken from the stone surface.
“At some point I was forced to remove him from Theo Thwala Primary School and enrol him into a school which caters for people with special needs.
“There was no one to help him in the bathroom and there were no facilities catering for him,” she says.
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Nikkie says she is pleading with anyone who could help her son to come forward.
“I am unemployed and depend on the children’s social grants to survive which makes it difficult to afford all his needs,” she adds.
Ward 74 Clr Thulane Semilane says he is pleading with local business people and government to help make Simphiwe’s life bearable.
“The family needs to be removed from the informal settlement to a house with better facilities that will cater for his needs,” he says.
