South Africa has about 7.5% of its population living with disabilities that’s about 3 million people in a pool of its population of 60 million. In the United States there’s about 61 million people living with disabilities.
On the African continent many shopping malls and entertainment centres have a lack of services relating to the assistance of the disabled. In many of the more rural areas , the elderly and sick struggle to get the required equipment and services to bring ease and comfort to their lives.
The founders of The Wheelchair Doctor Ernest Majenge and Caroline Brown have created the Ruby wheelchair to solve Africa’s problems. “This wheelchair makes it easy to climb and descend stairs which is perfect for people in urban areas while we have also developed an off-road wheelchair that will cater for people in townships, rural areas and on farm.” says Majenge
The business has won multiple awards around the continent like the South African Breweries Foundation Disability Empowerment Award and Transnet Matlafatso Centre Pitching Competition in 2020 and 2021.
The business will also offer rentals of wheelchairs and assistance services in malls and high traffic areas.
“We have the biggest malls in Africa yet there’s no wheelchair services available for the elderly, sick and disabled. This changes from today, almost every mall will have this service moving forward. We know that it will benefit the customers who come to these locations but the mall management as well.” says Brown
The Wheel Chair Doctor showcased some of their products and services at the Disability Summit that took place recently in Kempton Park, South Africa where the current President of the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa endorsed the wheelchairs.
