Joburg resident has big ideas for the disabled

The idea for her Paratube came about after Portia was involved in an accident that left her in hospital for six weeks.

“During my stay, I saw a lot of people in wheelchairs suffering. They were not able to go to the bathroom on their own, and with the lack of nurses in South Africa and in the hospital where I was, going to the bathroom was difficult for us.”

Her main aim was to allow those who were disabled or bedridden to regain the independence and dignity they had lost.

“My cousin was in a car accident in 2012 that left him paralysed and they spent so much money and time revamping the bathroom,” she said.

After these two incidents, Portia began to conceptualise an idea that would make it easier for the disabled to go to the bathroom – the Paratube.

“The individual will remove the waste cup from a holder and place it underneath them. Attached to the waste cup will be two pipes, the inlet pipe, which will carry the sterilising liquid/water into the cup and the outlet pipe which will carry the waste to the toilet with the support of the suction device,” she explained briefly.

This innovation was so highly praised it was entered into the Gauteng Accelerator Programme (Gap) Awards Medical section for 2014 at The Innovation Hub in Pretoria.

Although she did not win her category, she has been invited to enter her innovation into the Innovation Prize for Africa Awards 2015 to be held in the Kingdom of Morocco.

The awards require that the concept be patented and a prototype has to be made. It is for this reason that she is still looking for sponsors and investors in her one-of-a-kind idea.

Miss Mavhungu has set her sights high and entered the Ericsson Innovation Awards too, in hope to create a product that will help the disabled.