Outspoken Mamelodi-born disabled woman Lindiwe Choeu has spoken out for the disabled people in general.
According to Choeu, able-bodied and disabled people are the same and the only difference is that in some instances disabled people can’t move as freely and easily as able-bodied people.
Choeu is not shy at all about the fact that she is disabled, and she freely mixes and socialises with able-bodied people.
“Some disabled people don’t feel free at all and lack confidence when they find themselves among able-bodied people, because they are afraid of the unwanted attention whereby people stare at them with curiosity and pity,” said Choeu.
“But some of us disabled people have a much more positive outlook on life than many able-bodied people; we can inspire them and lift up their spirits,” said the 38-year-old Choeu.
She reckons that disabled people can gain something valuable from able-bodied people in much the same way that able-bodied people can gain something valuable from disabled people.
“It is a pity that some parents who have disabled children try to hide their children or become overprotective, this as they might be angry as to why God has given them disabled children,” she said.
“I know very well that it is not easy for parents to accept such a situation and they therefore need counselling to cope with a situation whereby they find themselves having disabled children,” said the articulate Choeu.
She expressed a wish that there would be several schools for disabled children in Mamelodi.
Due to lack of such special schools for the disabled in Mamelodi, Lindiwe Choeu had to relocate to Katlehong in the East Rand to attend the Ezibeleni LSEN Primary School and later relocated to Soweto to attend the Adelaide Tambo High School, where she matriculated in 2010.
Choeu is of the opinion that there must be more skills development centres for the disabled people in Mamelodi so as to avoid a situation whereby frustrated disabled people end up engaging in activities like drug abuse or other forms of unethical behaviour.
She told Tshwane Talks that a few years ago she and her peers tried to form a disabled persons’ association, but the plan didn’t succeed and there is no formal structure in this regard at the moment, due to lack of funding and support by institutions like the City of Tshwane municipality.
She said disabled people must be allocated special buses and taxis at special times so as to make it easy for them to catch transport to their different destinations.
“We will adhere to the timetable of the transport and get used to it, because at the moment some of us obviously take long before getting into a taxi or bus and we have to push and shove with able-bodied people in the process,” she said.
“And many able-bodied people feel we are wasting their time and making them late for work, and they are right, and that is why we need our own special taxis and buses,” said Choeu.
“At the moment I am unemployed and depend on the R2000 government disability grant which I think is not enough for my basic necessities,” she said.
“Though I am disabled I want to get employed but we disabled people are sometimes discriminated against because of our physical condition,” she said.
“Just like an able-bodied person may be discriminated against due to their age, disabled people are also overlooked for job opportunities because of their disability status,” explained Choeu.
Choeu told Tshwane Talks that her passion is to become a motivational speaker or radio presenter.
“Don’t give up when you are faced with an illness that causes disability,” said Choeu as a way of advising those who are disabled like her.
“This is not the end of the world, do not judge, because your disabled child maybe a future doctor or lawyer,” she said as a way of advising parents who have disabled children.