With some areas going for weeks without water, what happens to the homes for the elderly and people with disabilities when Ugu District Municipality fails to fill their water tankers on time?
This was a question raised by Speaker of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, Nontembeko Boyce, at the Khayalethu Home of Love and Care in KwaNzimakwe on Tuesday.
Khayalethu is a home for children living with disabilities, and Boyce was in KwaNzimakwe to hand over a borehole to the children’s home. Boyce said when a facility such as Khayalethu is without water, that means a caregiver has to leave someone that they need to care for, to collect water.
“And we do not want to see caregivers leaving children to queue for water. Yes, we cannot be there for the caregivers when they wake up in the middle of the night to check on the children but we want to be there for them when their taps run dry. At least while they are still trying to call Ugu there is a borehole to supply and sustain them for some time,” she said.
She added that the handover of the borehole was part of the Legislature’s social responsibility. The speaker said the Covid-19 pandemic showed them that homes that care for different types of people were suffering the most during water outages.
Also, areas such as Gamalakhe, Manaba, Ramsgate and Hibberdene have been without water for days. Meanwhile, Boyce also donated stage big blue filter replacement, set slimline, cleaning detergents, disposable nappies, washing powder, toiletries, gowns, and morning shoes to the Khayalethu Home of Love and Care.
Inkosi Bhekizizwe Nzimakwe of KwaNzimakwe Traditional Council said he was grateful for the donation. He said although they have received a number of donations they are not enough. “Children living with disabilities have needs every day from food to clothing, so we would like to encourage anyone who would like to donate to do so,” said Nzimakwe.
In closing Youth Month, Boyce said as the Legislature they do not want to focus on certain sessions of the youth. She said young people must remember that they are no longer the leaders of tomorrow saying that their time is now.
“Things such as sexuality, disability, race, and gender must not be part of the future we are trying to build. The high rates of unemployment and violent crimes that target people with disabilities and also the LGBTQI community must be prevented because most of the time, they are perpetuated by other young people,” said Boyce.
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