Forum gives assurance that sun cream reaches people with albinism

The deputy chairperson of the National Albinism Task Force, Mr Thomas Makhanthisa, has denied allegations that poor children living with albinism are not receiving sun-protection lotions because of corruption in the upper echelons of the albinism hierarchy.

Mr Makhanthisa, who is also the chairperson of the Vhembe District Disability Forum, said all those registered to receive the lotions were receiving them every month. He said that albinism organisations were working diligently to ensure that all those earmarked for the lotions received them.

“What we have discovered is that some health practitioners in rural clinics are also using the lotions to protect themselves from the sun,” he said. He added that the health department had changed the method of distributing the lotions. “They now package the lotions in small boxes and write the names of the recipients on the boxes before sending them to rural clinics to prevent health workers from using them,” he said.

When asked why they were receiving free sun-protection lotions from the government when they were receiving social grants, he explained that the lotions are very expensive, and they cannot afford them with social grants. “The cheapest lotion costs about R250 for 750 grams. We only apply it on our faces and feet; otherwise, if we use the two lotions we receive on the whole body, it won’t last for a month,” he said.

Regarding the issue of receiving social grants for people living with albinism in the country, he explained that they began fighting for the right to receive social grants in 1987, but they only started receiving them after 1994.

“The Limpopo Province was the first to provide social grants for people living with albinism, before the national government included other provinces. This is the hottest province in the country, and we were the ones suffering a lot from sunburn and burn wounds. We had to plead with the government to step in and help,” he said.

Date:23 March 2024

By: Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

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