Today the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo will submit questions for written response to the Office of the Premier on the lack of provision of functional wheelchairs to special schools in the province.
This follows reports on social media with photographs of the state of wheelchairs at the Letaba Special School in the Mopani District.
The photographs (here and here) show makeshift wheelchairs built with plastic garden chairs and bedlinen used to strap learners into these chairs.
The DA is concerned that our learners with disabilities are short changed by the Limpopo Department of Education for not providing adequate support to learners with mobility challenges.
Lack of safe and comfortable wheelchairs will compromise learning abilities and ultimately compromise meaningful employment opportunities which will keep these learners in the cycle of poverty.
Children with disabilities are particularly vulnerable and are routinely denied their rights to quality education, social assistance and health-care services, including therapeutic treatment.
The DA calls on Premier Stanly Mathabatha to assess the shortage of functioning wheel chairs at our special schools in the province and to issue a directive to the MEC for Education, Polly Boshielo, to correct this shortage to allow for unhindered access to learning.
The DA will continue to fight for the right that all children, including those with disabilities, be guaranteed equal access to quality education.