Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Cllr Louise Verwey and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng. See attached picture here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken decisive action to restore dignity and bring hope to a young disabled resident in Hoopstad’s Tikwana area.
During a recent visit to Hoopstad’s Tikwana area with local activists, we discovered the heartbreaking story of 19-year-old Seiso Mbalula, a young man born with a disability that prevents him from walking. Seiso has been forced to crawl wherever he goes for his entire life. He stopped attending school when he was 9 years old, in the third grade.
After discovering the heartbreaking situation of Mbalula, I arranged for a custom-built wheelchair to be made for him, funded by a generous local farmer who wished to remain anonymous.
Seiso lives in a small shanty with his grandfather, Ben Motsadi. Ben is a pensioner who has been unable to claim his SASSA pension grant. He borrowed money from a loan shark three years ago, and this person has been withholding his ID document, leaving him without an income for the past three years.
I requested assistance from SAPS Hoopstad to intervene in this case of Human Rights violation, and grandfather Ben Motsadi’s ID document was recovered from the loan shark and returned to him.
Seiso was unexpectedly presented with his new wheelchair during a DA street meeting near his home in the Tikwana Korea section the following week. The moment was emotional and filled with joy for Seiso, his grandfather, and the entire community, as this gesture had truly changed the young man’s life.
The Activist team and I provided the elderly man with vegetable seeds and fertiliser to plant in the garden beds he had previously prepared but could not plant due to a lack of resources.
We are committed to bringing real change to vulnerable and forgotten communities. This is what public service is about: restoring dignity, offering hope, and helping people live better lives.