Wednesday, 15 June 2022
GEORGE NEWS - An ecstatic 39-year-old Thembalethu-based paraplegic and a community worker, Khanyisa Dukumbana, received a brand-new wheelchair from George Mayor Leon van Wyk last Friday 10 June.
"Today, I'm happy to hand over a wheelchair to Khanyisa whom I have also learnt is a community worker for the disabled. This wheelchair, which is printed, 'Love from Taiwan' on its back, was donated to the George Municipality by a delegation from the Taipei Liaison Office in Cape Town that visited George late last year," said Van Wyk.
"I'm certain that Khanyisa will be a lot more mobile with the receipt of this new
chair as it will give her a lot more access to the informal areas, and the areas
where she is working with disabled people. We are very honoured that we could hand this over to her."
Dukumbana is involved in outreach work to the disabled community and is a member of the Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA).
Van Wyk thanked the municipality's gender and disability coordinator, Ejustley
Boshoff, for facilitating the process of finding an eligible beneficiary for the
gift.
Khanyisa thanked the mayor for finding her "this new BMW". "It has all the necessary features including a seat belt. This gift came at the right time as I was starting to experience mobility problems with my existing wheelchair," she said.
During their visit last year, the director-general of the Taipei Liaison Office in
Cape Town, David Yintso Lin, said Taiwan provides medical equipment globally in support of different countries.
"We have a saying in Taiwan, true friends stick together, and this is the idea behind this gesture. We would like to be of help during these difficult times," Lin said.
