Deaf Fortune is grateful that he received his driver’s license
Several people help him to succeed.
It was a big achievement and something to tick off his bucket list for Mr Fortune Sibiya (39) to get his driver’s license on Thursday, August 26.
Mr Sibiya is deaf and said it has been a life-long dream for him to one day drive a vehicle.
He has been working at Secunda SuperSpar in the CBD for a year and a half and his manager, Mr Renier Harmse, helped him to reach this milestone in his life.
Ms Rita Meintjes, teacher for the deaf class at Marietjie School, also helped with sign language the first time Mr Sibiya went for driving lessons at South African Driving School.
Mr André Pretorius was Mr Sibiya’s driving instructor and he said he learnt fast after Ms Meintjes’ help with the first driving lesson.
Mr Pretorius said Mr Sibiya is very vigilant on the road because he cannot hear and he just have to use his other senses such as his eyes to ensure safety on the road.
Mr Harmse said some of the staff members at Spar learnt a little bit of sign language to communicate with Mr Sibiya or they write messages if they want to communicate with him.
Ms Meintjes might offer the staff of Spar a few lessons in sign language soon.
Mr Sibiya attended school at the Fulton School for the Deaf in Pinetown and his parents live in the eMalahleni (Witbank) and Middelburg area.
They said if he gets his driver’s license, they will help him with a vehicle so that he can visit them more often.
Mr Sibiya began applying for his license and already made appointments earlier this year and although it was a long process, he is very happy today to be able to drive by himself.
Ms Meintjes thanked everyone who helped him and made it possible to reach this achievement, including SpecSavers where he went for an eye test and they realised he actually needs glasses, and
Mr Nkosi from the licensing department.
The deaf class at Marietjie School celebrated with Mr Sibiya on Friday, August, 27 and Ms Meintjes said she is glad that there are job opportunities for deaf learners as well as opportunities to achieve success.
