Real Change
Workshop conversations become action plans. Action plans become funded projects. Projects change lives. Here is what we have delivered — and what is still in progress.
2 of 3 community members who lacked long-term access to tertiary specialist care have received their much-needed operative interventions. The first complainant went from bed-bound to competing in Gijima sporting events in his wheelchair. The final case is booked for late 2026.
A wheelchair user attending an extremely rural school could not be linked to scholar or public transport. Her mother was carrying her 6km a day through thick sand. A Backabuddy fundraising initiative was launched and a 4x4 Segway wheelchair procured. She now attends school independently and participates in community events.
The Gijima Foundation funded and constructed modular wheelchair-access ramps at 3 schools in 2026 where wheelchair users were either already attending or where enrolment depended on access. A fourth ramp is pending scholar enrolment outcomes.
2 children with disabilities who lacked documentation were successfully integrated into school in 2026, proving that the Department of Education upholds the constitutional mandate that no child is left behind.
After the 2025 workshop, local DPOs have been formally invited to attend ward 1 'war rooms' — the routine intersectoral meetings where community challenges are raised and escalated. DPOs are also now invited to community meetings on road maintenance and infrastructure.
KZN Office of the Premier received the full list of Manguzi disability sector grievances from the workshop and committed to routinely requesting feedback from departments on progress. This creates a formal accountability loop where none previously existed.
Immediate individual redress is often favoured, but rarely results in systemic change — meaning others don't benefit from the effort and the same inequalities persist.
The Gijima Foundation pursues both tracks simultaneously: resolving individual cases where possible, while using those cases to make the systemic argument for policy and practice change.
Read about the workshop processDonations fund ramps, wheelchairs, health services, and more. Every rand is accounted for.
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