Gift of cane has blind man able to walk freely
FOR years, Anelisa Phindiso had to rely on relatives and the goodwill of neighbours to walk him to the shop in his Tabase village, which is 400 metres from his home.
As a result, his self-worth was crushed. Seven years ago he could walk to the shops or to town any time he wanted without anyone’s help.
Then the unthinkable happened: In 2011 he went completely blind in both eyes. Suddenly he was at the mercy of others. But not anymore.
The 30-year-old father of one could not contain his excitement when he received a white cane from the Billion Group, owned by Eastern Cape-born property mogul and businessman Sisa Ngebulana.
The company, partnering with the Mthatha City Ngebs Mall, donated white canes, a wheelchair, wheelchair cushions and crutches to 55 disabled people in and around Mthatha on Thursday.
“I could move perfectly fine inside the yard at home because I was able to memorise the routes, but I found myself asking neighbours for help when I wanted to go to the shops in the village,” he told Saturday Dispatch immediately after testing his new cane at the Council for Persons with Disabilities’ information office in Ikhwezi Township, in Mthatha.
“Sometimes some people asked me for money.”
Having worked for several years for Eskom at the huge Medupi Power Station in Limpopo where he was an assistant welder, Phindiso never imagined that one day he would find himself living with a disability.
After quitting his job, he was scared to venture outside his house without the help of his niece or neighbours. He said he was particularly scared to hurt his face on a fence or injure his leg by falling into an open ditch.
“Now with this [cane] I will be able to feel my way around the village and walk there, although I might still need a little bit of help when wanting to go to town.”
Another recipient of a cane was 24-year-old Zimkhitha Mzondi, who hails from Qumbu but stays in Chris Hani informal settlement in Mthatha with her disabled friend.
She lost her sight when she was only five.
She also had to ask for help from neighbours to get around.
However, she also felt that with a walking cane, she would be able to find the way to town by herself.
National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa director Therina Wentzel said it was not easy for those who were not born disabled to cope when they became disabled.
Calling Ngebulana “the black diamond of the Eastern Cape”, she said he approached them five years ago and had played a crucial role in assisting disabled people.
The malls that his company constructed across the province were built to accommodate disabled people.
The council’s Eastern Cape provincial chairman Zekhala Gqwetha said disabled people faced many challenges, such as a lack of awareness and access to information. —