MBOMBELA – Members of Ama-Wheelies in collaboration with City of Mbombela Local Municipality, brought the city to a standstill during their road-safety awareness drive on Saturday.
They started at the Old Nissan garage to Andrew Street, respect road signs and highlighting the importance of buckling up when embarking on a journey.
The organiser of Ama-Wheelies, Moses Mlombo, told this newspaper that they go all out to share their stories of how they became wheelchair-bound.
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“During this time of the year accidents on our roads are on the increase. We felt that we should put aside everything and teach people, especially motorists, about the dangers of not respecting road regulations. Our members are now wheelchair-bound because of being involved in car accidents.
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We don’t want new members and we can achieve that by reducing crashes on our roads. Some of the accidents rob the society of breadwinners,” said Mlombo.He added that they are planning to reach out to taverns next year.
“We must not be ignorant, there are drivers who are not responsible.
They don’t mind driving under the influence of alcohol and their chances of causing accidents are very high. We believe that if we share our story with them, they can understand better and change their attitude so that they don’t end up being wheelchair-bound.”
Ama-Wheelies also handed over a petition to the municipality in which they raised various grievances such as the lack of user-friendly roads for people with disabilities and the inaccessibility of services.
Cllr Moses Mkhonta received the petition on behalf of the executive mayor, Cllr Sibusiso Mathonsi. He promised they would pay attention to the issues raised.
“Let me first indicate that as a municipality we really appreciate your informative role in the community. It’s very rare in our societies to find people doing what you are doing today. Indeed, you are the real ambassadors for the road-safety campaign in the province.
“I am going to forward the petition to our mayor and we want to assure you that we will listen to your outcry and give you feedback,” he explained.
