AmaZulu Queen Ntokozo KaMayisela Zulu will be leading a project to build a boarding school for children with disabilities.
This was announced during a Women’s Day event at Bruntville in Mooi River on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala (BJS) Association — a foundation established in honour of the legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder — to celebrate women, senior citizens and children with disabilities.
Addressing Mpofana community members at the Mooi River Bruntville stadium, Queen KaMayisela called on communities to lend a helping hand to parents of disabled children.
“It’s often said that it takes a community to raise a child but we don’t offer enough support to parents of children with disabilities. We don’t check up on that mother who finds it hard to even do her errands and offer to look after the child while they go to town every once in while. That shows that people still need to have a better understanding of disabled children.”
To ease the challenges faced by those families and give those children opportunities in life, the Zulu queen said she, through her Ka-Maskolo Foundation, has partnered with the Red Cross Society and the BJS Association to build a facility to house and teach disabled children.
“We came up together to try to find out how we can assist those mothers and started a process to build boarding schools where we will house children with disabilities, teach them and have nurses to take care of them.
“If a 17-year-old gives birth to a disabled child, her life is over but if we can all work together we can help those people. It’s hard having to forget about your own needs because you are to take care of someone.”
She said the project will be launched next month.
The event was also attended by former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Mlambo-Ngcuka reminded the community of the importance of the achievements of the women who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to take a stand against pass laws in 1956 and said it was time for the current generation to send its own message to the establishment.
By uniting and organising 20,000 women of different backgrounds at a time when there was no telecommunication or internet, showed that women can and should be ready to be leaders, she said.
“We must know that we have the power and capacity to organise. We must stop this thing of voting for men because we have the numbers, the leaders and we should believe in the power that a woman can bring into any office.”
She said women were still excluded from positions of power and urged them to do better to lift each other up because it was “lonely at the top”.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said was now working at the Umlambo Foundation which deals primarily with education and gender equality in schools but is also concerned about the welfare of communities.
She said the country was faced with a problem of child illiteracy, with children at the age of 10 often still struggling with reading, writing, and numeracy.
“87% of our children in South Africa are not reading at an appropriate age. They can’t even read books in their home languages. This is a crisis, we can’t emerge as a country with children who are illiterate in 2023. Our duty as mothers is to encourage and support our children to read.”
She added that the foundation was working closely with boys in schools to teach them about gender equality. As the main beneficiaries of patriarchy, Mlambo-Ngcuka said, men should play their role if it is to be dismantled.
“We teach boys from a young age not to be prejudiced because men are the main beneficiaries of the system that oppresses us. If patriarchy has to change then men should change first.”
TimesLIVE
AmaZulu Queen Ntokozo KaMayisela Zulu launches project for children with disabilities
Image: Nqubeko Mbhele
AmaZulu Queen Ntokozo KaMayisela Zulu will be leading a project to build a boarding school for children with disabilities.
This was announced during a Women’s Day event at Bruntville in Mooi River on Wednesday.
The event was organised by the Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala (BJS) Association — a foundation established in honour of the legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder — to celebrate women, senior citizens and children with disabilities.
Addressing Mpofana community members at the Mooi River Bruntville stadium, Queen KaMayisela called on communities to lend a helping hand to parents of disabled children.
“It’s often said that it takes a community to raise a child but we don’t offer enough support to parents of children with disabilities. We don’t check up on that mother who finds it hard to even do her errands and offer to look after the child while they go to town every once in while. That shows that people still need to have a better understanding of disabled children.”
To ease the challenges faced by those families and give those children opportunities in life, the Zulu queen said she, through her Ka-Maskolo Foundation, has partnered with the Red Cross Society and the BJS Association to build a facility to house and teach disabled children.
“We came up together to try to find out how we can assist those mothers and started a process to build boarding schools where we will house children with disabilities, teach them and have nurses to take care of them.
“If a 17-year-old gives birth to a disabled child, her life is over but if we can all work together we can help those people. It’s hard having to forget about your own needs because you are to take care of someone.”
She said the project will be launched next month.
The event was also attended by former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Mlambo-Ngcuka reminded the community of the importance of the achievements of the women who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to take a stand against pass laws in 1956 and said it was time for the current generation to send its own message to the establishment.
By uniting and organising 20,000 women of different backgrounds at a time when there was no telecommunication or internet, showed that women can and should be ready to be leaders, she said.
“We must know that we have the power and capacity to organise. We must stop this thing of voting for men because we have the numbers, the leaders and we should believe in the power that a woman can bring into any office.”
She said women were still excluded from positions of power and urged them to do better to lift each other up because it was “lonely at the top”.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said was now working at the Umlambo Foundation which deals primarily with education and gender equality in schools but is also concerned about the welfare of communities.
She said the country was faced with a problem of child illiteracy, with children at the age of 10 often still struggling with reading, writing, and numeracy.
“87% of our children in South Africa are not reading at an appropriate age. They can’t even read books in their home languages. This is a crisis, we can’t emerge as a country with children who are illiterate in 2023. Our duty as mothers is to encourage and support our children to read.”
She added that the foundation was working closely with boys in schools to teach them about gender equality. As the main beneficiaries of patriarchy, Mlambo-Ngcuka said, men should play their role if it is to be dismantled.
“We teach boys from a young age not to be prejudiced because men are the main beneficiaries of the system that oppresses us. If patriarchy has to change then men should change first.”
TimesLIVE
MORE
Women’s Month not only for celebration but also a call for action
WATCH | Women’s Day commemoration at Union Buildings
Inanda remains a GBV hotspot, says KZN premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most read
Latest Videos