Plea to break stigma over disabled kids

“Parents must stop locking their disabled children behind closed doors due to societal stigma.”

That  was the message from speakers as Mnquma municipality  donated sports and educational material to Lingomso Lethu Special School in Mission Village near Butterworth on Thursday.

The event was held to commemorate Disability Awareness Month.

The donations included ceramicware for pottery-making, paint, crosswords, toys, sports kits and  fitness gadgets.

The day was full of festive cheer with gumboot dancing and singing enjoyed by children, parents and government officials alike.

Mnquma Disability Forum chair David Nomngqokwana said the disabled were not yet fully integrated into society.

“Some parents still lock their children in their bedrooms only for them to come out on [disability] grant paydays.

“Each one of us is created differently  so people with disabilities must be treated without discrimination,” he said.

Acting Mnquma mayor Ncumisa Thandaphi said  hundreds of people with physical and mental challenges benefited from Mnquma’s special programmes each year.

Entrepreneurship, skills development and other training opportunities allow participants to become self-dependent.

“We are here to promote, protect and restore the rights and dignity of people with physical challenges and intellectual impairments.

“It is very important that they are supported and integrated into broader society,” she said.

The sports, recreation, arts and culture department also handed over some of the material.