Disabled people are starving while officials shuffle paper in an attempt to decide whether to help them. Roshila Pillay reports Disabled people in the North West province have been queuing at clinics from 4am to have doctors examine them and confirm whether they can receive their R540 a month disability grant, since grants were suspended in the province three weeks ago. The process takes only a few minutes but it’s a long wait for those who are not at the front of the queue. Many disabled people tell of state doctors who go on lunch and others who leave early, instructing them to return the next day. The medical report that doctors have to fill in has a section where the doctor rates the patient’s capabilities under several categories personal hygiene, communication, physical activity, travel, functional abilities, sensory function and hand functions. Each of these categories deals with activities such as bathing, dressing, hearing, writing, sitting, walking, driving, travelling, carrying, lifting, seeing, grasping and holding. A doctor in the North West says a mentally handicapped person could be quite competent where daily functions such as dressing are concerned, but that would not amount to intellectual capability. The medical report is considered by an assessment committee, which decides whether the person is in need of a grant. However, a doctor says the committee in her district is not functioning yet. Daniel Makhuvele (59) has been awaiting his disability grant since it was suspended in February this year. In March the Mail & Guardian reported the suspension of pensions in the province. Makhuvele’s wife, Sara Makhuvele, was one of the pensioners whose grant was suspended. Although his wife’s grant was reinstated, Makhuvele has not had any response from the North West Province Department of Social Services. Makhuvele and his wife complied with instructions by social security administrative staff to obtain an affidavit from a police station attesting to their age and employment status even though the taxi to the police station cost them R24. Now Makhuvele has been handed a medical review form to be filled in by a doctor. A stroke in 1995 left Makhuvele with a speech defect and jobless. With crutches he can walk slowly but prefers to sit because walking is a painful effort.
He says: “My daughter [Joyce] finished matric but we have no money to send her to study. They [the government] do nothing for us. They just help a little bit.” The Makhuvele family survives on a 50kg bag of mealie meal a month, as Sara’s pension is finished within a week of receiving it. Israel Zulu (50) looks normal but is mentally handicapped. He cannot talk properly and severe arthritis of both his hands prevents him from using them. Zulu has been receiving his grant since 1990, but it was suspended three weeks ago. He is supported by his family, who uses the grant to buy food and clothe Zulu and make a R45 monthly payment to a burial society on his behalf. Every day Zulu is bathed and helped with other basic chores he needs to perform. The medical assessment for Zulu rates him quite well in the self-care and physical activities categories, but he performs poorly in communication and travel. Simply put, Zulu has no hope of finding employment. “People have to look at it contextually he cannot get a job in the current job market,” says Charles Pillai, regional director for the Legal Resources Centre in Pretoria, who is representing Zulu. Sinah Mahlanane Khoza (37) is a hunchback. Her condition allows for very limited movement of the spine. She has been receiving her disability grant since 1992. When she went to collect her money last month she was told it had been suspended. She was then given a medical report and an affidavit to complete. She has done so but has yet to receive any feedback on the status of her grant. Khoza is hungry when she arrives at a clinic for her medical examination. She has not eaten for two days and relies on the kindness of neighbours for food and clothing. Two of her three children eat once a day their school provides them with one meal. Her eldest daughter is in standard nine but cannot write her examinations next week because she cannot afford the bus fare to her school. Khoza and her children live in a miniscule two-bedroomed zinc house. Her activities are limited to helping bathe her smallest child but other than that she is helpless. “I have pain when I try to work at home.” Khazamula Ngolela (44) was born with cerebral palsy. He supports his wife and five children, who range from age eight to 24. Ngolela has been receiving a disability grant since July last year but last month he was told it had to be reviewed. Asked what his family eats, Ngolela says: “We suffer. Someone gave us some bread today.” He cannot sleep at night because he worries about how he will provide for his family. Ngolela says: “They [the government] have taken away our dignity. My children don’t have food.”