Disabled to empowered: Juani’s trek to success

Over a cup of coffee, Juani van Niekerk shared her tale of life after a terrible accident, substantial brain damage and being destitute, among other hardships she faced.

It’s surprising that this story started with the statement, “I am so blessed!”, coming from the congenial 33-year-old ginger-haired mother of two sitting across the table. It all started in 1993, when she was 10-years-old and walking her brother Griffie, 7, who was playing with a ball, to school in Roodepoort West.

She cannot remember how the incident occurred but through others’ accounts, understood they were run over when they ran into the road after the ball. Her brother succumbed to his injuries and she was taken to hospital.

“I sustained serious brain damage, and about 10cm of my brain matter was removed after which I was in a coma for a month,” she told the Record.

Her brain damage meant that she would spend her next three years of schooling at the West Rand School in Krugersdorp receiving both physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy. In Standard 5 (now Grade 7) she had minor success on the sports grounds where she broke five SA record with athletic items like discus, javelin, long jump and swimming.

“It was always my dream to return to a normal school and function normally, which I did when I started attending Hoërskool Roodepoort; that quickly went south, because children were cruel and teased me despite my best efforts to be like them.”

She left high school within the first year and decided to finish her school at South West Gauteng College, where she studied business and completed her NES and NSS diplomas.

The Road Accident Fund (Raf) only paid out by 1999 and gave her just under a million rand in compensation, which was a lot at the time. She fell pregnant with her daughter, Amy, who was born in 2006 and was able to provide her with a good home and food and clothing, but struggled in raising her alone as she couldn’t aid her finances with a salary.

“Finding a job was very difficult for me. People play nice about it in public, saying they are not against hiring a disabled woman, even though I could count and write like any other, but the truth is I had a rough time and my money soon dried up.”

In the mean time both Juani’s parents passed away, her mother having also been disabled by an accident early in her life, and she had no one to lean on to or live with.

“In 2013 I found myself and my daughter destitute after my mother’s death, and decided to send Amy to stay with a friend in Springs while taking all the burdens on myself.”

Juani ended up staying in Cradle of Hope in Krugersdorp from September 2013 til April 2014, which she, without flinching, describes as “eight months of hell in the gloomy Krugersdorp, a deep journey to eventual enlightenment”.

She stayed with who she best describes as “scumbags” after her Cradle stunt, one an alcoholic and another an abuser. She fell pregnant again and felt she couldn’t support her second daughter as she isn’t supporting her first, giving Amanda, now 4, up for adoption. Juani was raised in the Christian faith and gave her heart to God once more, she said. Her mother left her the family business-from-home, Merry Maids, which apparently disgruntled her older sister.

“She told me to let the business be, that I couldn’t do it; by the time I wanted to take a chance with the business, it had already been dormant for a couple of months and one would argue the list of clients dwindled, but quite the contrary happened,” Juani said.

“After living with such detrimental men, I decided for myself that I will never again be dependent on a man to make a living — and when I date or marry, I want a partner, not a boss.”

She was adamant to start earning her own way and rebooted the business, which she says grew in revenue by 400 per cent last year. At a point she had 21 staff members, but says she scaled down for practical reasons.

According to Melodie van Brakel, Cradle of Hope founder, Juani is a woman with sturdy Christian roots and, in her own words, “someone that rose above her circumstances”.

“I’m proud of who she seems to have become after going through such hardships and wish her all the best with her ventures going forward.”

Juani has since married Wilhelm, whom she’s known since her childhood years from attending church, in November last year and they raise her daughter, a bright 10-year-old herself now, together.

She looks forward to expanding the business this year by getting a driver and opening an official Merry Maids office.

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