DISABLED MAN JAILED 2 YEARS FOR ‘DD’

MATSAPHA – A week ago, the traffic police arrested a disabled man for driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Phila Shongwe, a resident of Mantabeni, near Siphocosini, is a confirmed paraplegic.

Paraplegia is a medical term referring to complete paralysis of the lower half of the body, including both legs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord. The 43-year-old wheelchair-bound Phila Shongwe is serving a two-year-jail term after he was convicted of drink driving last Sunday.

He had been arrested on Saturday night, while driving home from a popular drinking spot known as Ka-Jerome. His alcohol-blood content reading was 0.086mg/l, whereas the legal limit is 0.038mg/l.
The following day, he appeared before Manzini Principal Magistrate David Khumalo, who sentenced him to four years in jail but suspended two of these. This meant that Shongwe would have to go to jail for two years or pay E2 000 as a fine.

He did not have the money and was promptly whisked away to start serving his sentence. After his conviction, prison officers fetched him from the accused dock and carried him to a van which transported him to Matsapha Maximum Prison where he is currently being kept. He has already served a week of the two-year jail term.

However, the major problem for the Correctional Services department is that it does not have proper facilities to keep disabled people as prisoners.
Shongwe, who was able to make calls to his friends and relatives while the process of booking him into the Matsapha prison was in progress, revealed that he had been informed that there was no government wheelchair for people like him.

“Prison officers had to transport him to his home in Mantabeni, about 50 kilometres away, to fetch his old wheelchair,” said one of his friends.
The other dilemma was how the unique prisoner was going to interact with other inmates; how he was going to line up for meals and be counted, as well as how he would be expected to do menial tasks like all other prisoners during the course of his stay there.

Shongwe’s disability is such that he needs assistance when taking a bath, undressing or going to bed.
Even when he got into the family car he was driving when he was arrested, he had to be helped to sit on the driver’s seat. He had left his wheelchair at home. It has been established that he is incapable of doing anything without the assistance of his family, especially his children.

He has a wife, who is alleged to be not so present in the disabled man’s life. “When Shongwe called to inform her that he had been sentenced to two years in jail, she simply said she was feeling sorry for him and cut the connection. He has not heard from her since,” said a source.

Shongwe is now under the care of His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS). Officers have had to make quick decisions since his arrival.
Realising the uniqueness and awkwardness of the situation, they have decided to place him in a ward at the Matsapha Maximum Prison’s clinic - under the care of nurses and doctors.
A medical report from the Mbabane Government Hospital detailing Shongwe’s health condition reads: “This letter serves to confirm that the above mentioned is paraplegic due to an infection in his spine. He is, therefore, unable to be gainfully employed. Kindly assist him in anyway possible.”

This effectively means Shongwe is not expected to do manual work in prison. Instead, His Majesty’s Correctional Services would have to rehabilitate him and feed him.
On Monday, Shongwe told relatives that some prison officers complained to him that he might be a burden to them. He then appealed for financial assistance to pay the fine.  He assured the nation that he would ‘never ever again’ drive under the influence of alcohol.
Senior Superintendent Bongani Khumalo, Public Relations Officer for the Correctional Services department, said Shongwe would not be a burden to them because he was kept where he would not struggle to move or be moved.
This is despite Shongwe’s insistence that warders had been complaining about how to handle him in light of his permanent disability.

Khumalo said Shongwe would not cause any inconvenience because he moved around with the aid of a wheelchair. This is the same rickety wheelchair fetched by a government car from Mantabeni.
Khumalo said he had liaised with the officer-in-charge at Matsapha Maximum Prison who assured him that he (Shongwe) was under good care.

He said the new prisoner was not in isolation at the clinic. Khumalo said they resolved to keep him in the clinic’s ward because he needed special medical care. “There are others who are kept in the clinic with him. We keep them there if they require immediate medical attention,” said Senior Superintendent Khumalo.

He said it was, however, not the responsibility of the prison officers to push wheelchair-bound inmates around.
Other inmates are usually asked to do so. “Here, we inculcate the culture of humanity (ubuntu) and compassion. We rehabilitate them to be compassionate. As a result, other inmates will help him if there could be a need for him (Shongwe) to move from point A to point B. If one’s wallet is half out of his pocket, we train them to alert the owner of the wallet as opposed to secretly pulling it out,” he said.

He said the clinic was easily accessible and Shongwe would not need to move up stairs or use facilities unfriendly to his condition. Those willing to help Shomgwe can call 7621 6503.

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