IT is an uphill struggle for the elderly, sick and wheelchair-bound of Soweto to access their social grants and medical treatment at Maponya Mall in Soweto
Many of the people had to rely on strangers and relatives to help them to go up three flights of stairs to the offices of the South African Social Security Agency last Friday.
Some endured a treacherous and tiresome walk up the stairs.
The agency offices are situated on the second floor of the sprawling shopping centre in Pimville.
Those walking to the medical centre on the first floor might have been better off. But they were stranded at the door of the medical centre after receiving their treatment.
Most of them wanted - and waited - to be helped down to ground floor.
When Sowetan visited the mall on Friday morning following a phone call from Vusumuzi Gumede, co-founder of Divine Voice of the Voiceless which assists the disabled, a number of senior citizens, many using walking sticks and wheelchairs, were struggling to make their way up the stairs.
A very slow stream of people clogged the stairway, resulting in congestion.
One of the people who had to be pushed up to the agency offices was 60-year-old wheelchair-bound Napoleon Sibaya.
Sibaya, who was accompanied by Gumede, told Sowetan that he had come to enquire about his disability and pension grants when he realised the elevator was not working.
"I had to call Vusi (Gumede) to take me to the only elevator that works but it only goes up to the first floor. That meant Vusi had to push me the rest of the way," Sibaya said.
Maponya Mall's Lawrence Joubert told Sowetan that the elevator on the right was "switched off" after they discovered that water was seeping into the elevator pit.
Said Joubert: "We discovered that foul water was pushing into the elevator and had the potential to electrocute people or cause a hygiene problem, so we switched it off."
"It's not an ideal situation but we did this to protect our customers."
Joubert said a camera system would be installed to trace the origin of the water following which, "repairs will begin in earnest".
Joubert could not say when the elevator will be up and running again.
Meanwhile, interim supervisor at the mall's agency offices, Lazarus Ndou, said a table would be placed at the ground floor to assist grant recipients.
Uphill for oldies, disabled at Soweto's Maponya Mall
IT is an uphill struggle for the elderly, sick and wheelchair-bound of Soweto to access their social grants and medical treatment at Maponya Mall in Soweto
Many of the people had to rely on strangers and relatives to help them to go up three flights of stairs to the offices of the South African Social Security Agency last Friday.
Some endured a treacherous and tiresome walk up the stairs.
The agency offices are situated on the second floor of the sprawling shopping centre in Pimville.
Those walking to the medical centre on the first floor might have been better off. But they were stranded at the door of the medical centre after receiving their treatment.
Most of them wanted - and waited - to be helped down to ground floor.
When Sowetan visited the mall on Friday morning following a phone call from Vusumuzi Gumede, co-founder of Divine Voice of the Voiceless which assists the disabled, a number of senior citizens, many using walking sticks and wheelchairs, were struggling to make their way up the stairs.
A very slow stream of people clogged the stairway, resulting in congestion.
One of the people who had to be pushed up to the agency offices was 60-year-old wheelchair-bound Napoleon Sibaya.
Sibaya, who was accompanied by Gumede, told Sowetan that he had come to enquire about his disability and pension grants when he realised the elevator was not working.
"I had to call Vusi (Gumede) to take me to the only elevator that works but it only goes up to the first floor. That meant Vusi had to push me the rest of the way," Sibaya said.
Maponya Mall's Lawrence Joubert told Sowetan that the elevator on the right was "switched off" after they discovered that water was seeping into the elevator pit.
Said Joubert: "We discovered that foul water was pushing into the elevator and had the potential to electrocute people or cause a hygiene problem, so we switched it off."
"It's not an ideal situation but we did this to protect our customers."
Joubert said a camera system would be installed to trace the origin of the water following which, "repairs will begin in earnest".
Joubert could not say when the elevator will be up and running again.
Meanwhile, interim supervisor at the mall's agency offices, Lazarus Ndou, said a table would be placed at the ground floor to assist grant recipients.
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