Palesa Mofoti picture: sourced
A gorgeous lady wearing many hats, affectionately known as “the lady with a golden voice”, Mme Alina Thandiwe Mfulo. A politician, an activist for people living with disabilities, a businesswoman, a single parent who raised two daughters and a grandmother of three.
An ANC cadre who is a former Member of the National Assembly serving on various committees, including Portfolio on Science and Technology on two terms (2012 to 2014 and 2017 to 2019). Chairperson of the Commonwealth Disabled People’s Forum, Secretary General of Disabled Women South Africa, member of Disabled People Organization and owner of Ratisimo Trading, the list goes on and on.
Mme Thandi was born in Kimberley and contracted Polio as a baby, which led to her disability. Her thirst for education compelled her parents to allow her to attend Tlamelang School in Lichtenburg, North West. “During those years people living with disability were segregated. The physically and the blind attended different schools”, she explained.
Then she returned home to continue her high school studies at Tidimalo High School (currently known as Dr EP Lekhela High School). During the apartheid era in the 1980’s she pursued an Administration and Secretarial course at Access College for the Disabled in Randburg, in Gauteng, a multi-racial college. The college was funded by Pittsburgh Pitts Typewriters, a British company that supplied typewriters.
Like most South Africans, she faced the hardship of unemployment. “I stayed for about 10 years without work. In 1995, I got employment at the Premier’s office as a Clerk. Then I realised that other Administrators and Clerks earned more than R2000 and my salary was R900. When I asked why, I was told that it was because I was getting a government grant of R92, after every two months”, she was told during those years.
The tables were turned when the new Constitution of the Republic of South Africa was implemented. “I stepped on that platform to ensure that issues of disability are being captured. That’s when our organization; Disabled People South Africa and Disabled Women South Africa was launched and they are available in all provinces”, she continued.
Mme Thandi indicated that the organisations that she is leading or participating in are civil rights societies, responsible for ensuring that people living with disability’s rights are protected and enforced like any other citizen of the country. They also make inputs in all policies that govern the country. She alluded, “In preparation for the G20 Summit, we had to give the president our declaration to say what we want. For instance, they like to call us marginalised. We are not marginalised. Everybody in the country or the world is marginalised. We are people with disability. If you can recognize women, youth, children, what’s wrong with us?”, she asked.
She spoke about her entrepreneurial spirit. “I registered my company in 2017. In the beginning, I was just doing everything, catering, stationery or whatever was needed, I’ll be there. But eventually, I decided to check the world of construction. I’m manufacturing plastic bricks for paving from recycled materials. As a woman with disability, it’s tough, she narrated how she was judged and undermined by some fellow women. To supplement her business, especially whilst awaiting payments, she hosts events at her house, including foot massages and jazz sessions, to name a few. “Most of the people who support me are people using wheelchairs,” she said.
In her sense of humour, she told us an interesting story when she was appointed as a service provider during the construction of the Sol Plaatje University, “I got there, and the guy says to me, “Hi, you’re in a wheelchair. What do you know about construction?” “And I said to him, unfortunately, I’m in. You are stuck with me. People normally say, the last man standing. I’ll be the last woman standing and sitting at the same time. That’s how we moved on” , she indicated. She mentioned a few other incidents in which she was asked whether her company was even registered.
Due to a lack of funding, she started manufacturing her bricks by burning plastics in a drum. Herself and other family members who volunteered to assist her as she could not afford to pay salaries then. After a struggle to acquire funds, Mme Re Ka Thusa eventually assisted her, although the funds were not enough to procure machinery, she managed to manufacture her own.
She applauded the Kwa-Zulu Natal Government for putting aside 5% for any procurement for people living with disability. She also touched on the struggle in the Northern Cape to acquire assistive devices for people living with disability.
Mme Thandi shared some heartfelt moments where she intervened for people living with disability in and around the province.
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