Rehabilitation centre struggles to stay afloat amidst Covid-19 pandemic

HARD hit, financially, by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sukuma Therapy Centre in the Point area is struggling to stay afloat. Despite this, the centre continues to offer a lifeline to stroke and spinal injury patients, some of whom arrive at the centre in wheelchairs and walk out the doors months later after therapy.

The centre is aptly named, the isiZulu word, ‘Sukuma’ which means ‘rise up.’ While many patients continue to rise up at the centre, the staff are working on a voluntary basis, struggling to keep the centre’s doors open.

Thenjiwe Mbongwe said her four-year-old grandson could not walk when he arrived at the centre.

“With the help of the gym, he is now able to walk. It makes me very happy to see him walking. I was so stressed. He is now able to go to school like any other child,” she said.

Another patient thriving at the centre is Snenhlanhla Ndlovu, who suffered a spinal injury to her C4 vertebrae when she tragically fell off her balcony after a gust of wind blew her over.

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“I was told that I’d never be able to walk again or even sit up – that I’d just be lying down. The only part I’d be able to move was my head because the injury was high up in my neck. After that I did a bit of therapy in my hospital, but they had to discharge me. When I started coming here I couldn’t sit, stand or move my hands. With the therapy I have gotten here, I am able to sit, stand with assistance, use a phone and send emails. I don’t have full use of my hand, but with one finger, I am able to type,” she said.

Floor manager, Thanda Qwathekana, who holds a sport science qualification has been working at the centre for 15 years. He said the centre sufferer a financial hit due to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown period.

“Before Covid-19 we used to see about 30 people on average. On our busiest days we would see about 40 people. Now times have changed, we have about 12 people coming in per day. Some people can’t afford to risk going out and some are scared to go out because of Covid-19,” he said.

Remedial therapist, Gina Gabriele has been working at the centre for six years. She, like all staff at the centre, is not receiving a salary. 

“Due to Covid-19 we no longer have sponsorship coming in. Without sponsorship we have no way to keep our doors open. So we came up with a solution, to charge R500 per month per patient. This is the only way to keep this place running. We have additional costs due to Covid as we need to sanitise daily and wear gloves. We also need to come to work, we don’t have salaries. This service was completely free,” she said.

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Sam Ndebele, a remedial therapist who has been at the centre for 16 years, said remedial therapy is crucial after a patient is released from hospital.

“We have seen some patients come to us in wheelchairs and by the time they leave, they are walking. One patient spent about six months here. First he started walking on crutches, then he just used one crutch and then he was walking. He was not the only one, another patient who fell from the sixth floor of a building came to us in a wheelchair in the early 2000s. He was walking when he left. Most of our patients come here immediately after they are released from hospital. If they come here immediately, then we can work on them easily. If you come out of hospital and stay at home, your body becomes very stiff. Some patients become locked in the curve of their wheelchair – they can’t live flat,” he said.

The centre was previously part of NPO, St Giles for more than 60 years, said Ndebele.

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