Refilwe Makau receives aid from Gauteng Department of Housing

The plight of disabled teen Refilwe Makau which was covered by your newspaper and the overwhelming response by the Gauteng MEC for Housing Nomvula Mokonyane, and other citizens truly demonstrates that South Africa is a country with a caring government and its people.

We are grateful to every single person that has contributed in making the 17-year-old teenager and her mother’s life easier, by securing her a prosperous future by ensuring that she would be able to complete her studies.

The lessons we have learned are that we need to highlight the plight of the disabled people in our communities so that they may receive any necessary assistance.

As government we put the needs of the disabled as a priority, along with the aged, heath stricken and orphans. The National Department of Housing policy caters for the disabled in subsidy allocation for housing.

Provided the disabled and health stricken beneficiaries earn less than R800 a month they can access a housing subsidy of R36 000, plus additional funds for special additions to their houses such as paving and ramps to access their doors, grab rails in bath rooms, kick plates to doors and visible door bells for the deaf.

The individual may have a subsidy awarded to them if they are above the age of 21, or this may be done by a legal guardian.

When awarded the subsidy the beneficiary may apply for up to 15-percent of the allocated subsidy for the additional needs depending on the nature of the disability. Existing beneficiaries of subsidies may also apply for access to funding for additional needs added to their home for a member of the family that has a disability.

It is very important for people that apply for the subsidies in their provinces to remember to stipulate needs for the disabled at the very beginning of their application stage for a subsidy for their disabled needs, or for the person who would also be living in the house.

We trust that this information will help your readers to be able to help us to cater better for the needs of the disabled people in our country.

For more information contact: Monwabisi Maclean on 082 88 22 962