In light of this month’s newsletter- focus on sight impairment, Khulisani would like to feature one of our new workers: Bhekumusa Shezi.
Bhekumusa attended our Durban North Business Practice learnership between 2013 and 2014. Having had two years at university, he completed the course with flying colours and found it to be stimulating and gratifying.

Being considered legally blind (though he does have some sight) Bhekumusa has overcome his disability by ‘working hard, and being focused on completing well what he has been given to do’ – evidence of this is deciding to run, and then running, the NYC marathon!

Khulisani has recently been given the contract to employ 28 workers for BHP. On behalf of BHP, Khulisani places these workers in suitable host sites where they will develop skills, get work experience, and help institutions who are desperate for assistance, but have limited resources to pay employees. Host sites where we have placed workers include: LIV Village, Durban Children’s Home, and Domino’s Children Home, and Domino’s soup kitchen.

Bhekumusa has been employed by Khulisani at Domino’s growing tunnels, where our workers grow vegetables which in turn are used to make soup which feeds 1 500 local residents from the local (Phoenix) community each day.

Despite his disability, Bhekumusa immediately took on a supervisory role – seeing the bigger picture of what the work entailed, and how valuable the teams’ work is in the community. He catches a taxi each morning (members of his community know him, and know to tell him when his taxi is coming/ when he needs to get off) and ensures that the site-manager shows him (in detail) each morning where he needs to work, and what needs to be done.

Bhekumusa’s motivation is to work to help support his family, and says that he will do anything and overcome any obstacle in order to achieve this objective.
Thank you BHP for affording people with disabilities the opportunity of meaningful employment while helping others who are less fortunate.

Bhekumusa, with the rest of the Khulisani team working at Domino’s growing tunnels. Bhekumusa is last on the RHS.

Rachael Erskine
Operations Manager – Khulisani