Taking Action for the disabled
The Employment Equity Act can only help if people have the necessary skills
Action for Blind and Disabled Children describes its success as “a wonderful tribute to the country’s business community and its people”.
According to Gary Coetzee, financial manager at Action, many companies have entrusted Action with their sponsorships and have been putting their faith in the organisation to ensure a meaningful life for those less fortunate. “The aim of the organisation is to give the disabled and blind a platform where they can maximise their skills to become part of the workforce, to become self-sufficient and valuable member of society,” Gary explained.
He said they offer computer classes to the visually impaired and also teach them pottery. “Since its induction in 2002, the organisation has received only R25 000 in government funding. And because the company was registered as a non-government and non-profit organisation, we rely solely on the community and businesses to keep going.
“The Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 has created many opportunities for blind, deaf and disabled people, but the people the Act is intended to benefit cannot take advantage because they do not have the skills and cannot afford to acquire those skill on an income of only R1 600 per month.
“We currently have over 504 blind, deaf or disabled young people to tutor this year. The annual cost per student is R8 880 for tuition and R6 360 for accommodation (we house over 16 young disabled people who have to travel long distances),” he said.
Gary added that the cost of tuition for the blind, deaf or disabled is R2 220 per term and because Action employs the services of specialist IT tutors recognised by Microsoft, the organisation constantly upgrades equipment and introduces new training courses.
One of the tutors, Theo Mokoto, who has been teaching Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and digital literacy since 2016, said, “I love helping people to learn a new skill.”
Ashley Phiri teaches the layout of the keyboard and the different functions of the special keys as well as basic computing skills. “It is important to understand your keyboard and especially the functions of the special keys.”
Computer skills are not the only classes that are offered. Wilson Nyathi is in charge of the pottery section. “I show the students how to mould clay into vases, cups, mugs and plates. Every single item, after it has been through the heating process, is then hand painted and given to businesses as a thank you gift for their sponsorship,” he said.
Gary said they have received many testimonials from employers and students who have had success in the workplace. “We are going to launch the call centre training centre very soon. This is where we can train the disabled to become call centre agents,” he said.
If you can sponsor their students with tuition, call Gary on 011 763 1941 or 073 721 7568.
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