By Thabo Monyela
LERETJENI-The Democratic alliance (DA) in Tzaneen has given a disabled Bolobedu woman a new taste of freedom with the donation of a brand-new wheelchair.
The 41-year-old Sibongile Mongwe from Leretjeni Village in Bolobedu South weeps with joy after receiving the donation of a brand-new wheelchair from the DA.
Sibongile has been bedridden since 2020 since the inception of Covid-19 due to a sudden spinal cord illness which resulted in paraplegia.
Sibongile who is a mother of two daughters has been pleading with Letaba Hospital for assistance with the wheelchair, however, the hospital couldn’t help.
The DA was touched by Sibongile’s health struggles during a door-to-door campaign in the village and promised to help to restore her mobility and dignity with the donation of a new wheelchair.
The Democratic Alliance led by GTM Cllr Mahlatswa Ramalepe lived up to their promise by donating a brand-new wheelchair and grocery hampers to Sibongile’s family on Wednesday, 02 November.
” Restoring the dignity of our people is one of our foremost prioritized priorities at the level of local government.
As the DA we believe that this new wheelchair will bring relief of mobility to the family and improve the quality of life as her two daughters used to live with the burden of carrying and lifting their mother around the house and to the pit latrine toilet that is stationed far from the living house” Cllr Ramalepe said during the wheelchair handover.
Reacting to the donated brand-new wheelchair, Sibongile said ” The DA has brought my dignity back and that of my family with this wheelchair, now my daughters would no longer live with the burden of carrying me around and I will no longer crawl with struggles to reach for food and water because of the DA.
I’ll forever be grateful to this party and it shows that it helps the people, through them from today I will start to feel like a normal person”.
