JHB Society for the Blind advocates for the visually impaired

JOHANNESBURG Society for The Blind (JBS) is an organisation that liberates and offers assistance to the visual impaired South Africans.

The organisation, based in the south of Johannesburg, dates back to 1926 when it was formed after the World War II by the then acting staff president, the Honourable Mr Jeff.

It has been the cradle of optimism to the blind for nine decades.

The non-profit organisation (NPO) caters for the needs of the blind and partially sighted people.

The organisation was established to help the civilians who had lost their sight during the war.

According to the organisation, it provides accommodation, employment, rehabilitation, skills of daily living, orientation and mobility. It equips the blind so they can actively participate in the socio-economic development of South Africa.

In an interview, operations officer Nkosana Khubeka told the CHRONICLE the organisation runs a residential facility, which accommodates visually challenged people who for various reasons do not stay with their families. “The centre is currently home to 56 unsighted citizens in the South,” said Khubeka.

The society provide general assistance to all blind people irrespective of race, gender, colour or religious affiliation.

Purpose of Johannesburg Society for the Blind:

• To represent human rights of the blind and partially sighted people.

• To provide skills of daily living and mobility training.

• To provide social work services on site including assisting with disability grants.

•To provide accommodation for blind people and their families.

• To provide employment and job creation.

•To provide skills development and support to the visually impaired

•To assist blind women with their human rights as enshrined in the Constitution.

• To provide HIV/Aids care outreach programme for the visually impaired

• To provide adult basic education for the blind.

• To lobby government departments on issues affecting the blind and partially sighted which include voter education, among others.

To be operational, the organisation depends on donor funding. The provincial Social Development Department and the Department of Labour have been a source of funding.

“We as the society also source funding so that we can run the institute,” added Khubeka.

Walk Unafraid is the organisation’s motto. The society lives up to it by assisting the blind to walk freely in society and to enjoy their human rights.

For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.

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