Resident questions assistance for disabled persons

Daniel Brink was hit and injured by a roadside bomb while working in Iraq in 2005. Brink, a former police officer who describes himself as an able disabled person, lost his right leg, fingers and sustained injuries on other parts of his body.

He was treated in Germany and London before being returned for further treatment in South Africa, but follow-up medical costs, electric wheelchair and the need to make his home accessible became a nightmare.

He alleges, “The foreign medical insurance companies neglected their duties to take care of me. I am the lead complainant in a $2 billion class action lawsuit in Washington DC.”

He added that he feels like a second rate citizen of South Africa, that disabled persons are not given enough assistance to gain their independence and make a life for themselves. Brink was allegedly defrauded out of millions. “If it wasn’t for my fiancee, Carmen Gerber, I would be homeless and begging on the streets. She has stood by me through all financial losses, and legal and litigation battles against building owners who defrauded me.”

Midrand Reporter did not receive any comment from police in charge of Brink’s cases and his lawyers refused to comment on the matter and have since dropped him. “All I want is to get a job, but I get no responses to applications. I don’t want to beg.”

In response to Brink’s allegations about people with disabilities, the City of Johannesburg Social Development Department sub unit for People With Disabilities spokesperson Nero Maseko said the City does not look for jobs for disabled persons, but does its best to assist people with disabilities. “In Region A, we have an association of disabled persons who meet in Rabie Ridge every now and again to share their concerns and escalate their issues to the City.”

He said Brink would benefit from such networking, and that it would help him with information regarding learnerships and other work.”

Maseko explained that all the City does is recommend for disabled persons to get priority in the waiting list for housing. “We also hand out used wheelchairs to people who need them and forward their names to companies affiliated with the City for any job openings or learnerships available.”