“My legs no longer work and my fingers no longer work, but I have my mind and I have my voice – and I’m determined to use both to help the disabled,” says Caroline Malatji, founder of a small business that is determined to improve the lives and dignity of those living with disabilities, Disability Accessible Accommodation and Travel (DAAT).
Caroline’s resolve is rooted in her own disability: in 2015, she was involved in a car accident that left her with spinal damage, resulting in paralysis from chest to knees. “Waking up after the accident was a massive trauma. I was angry – at my doctors, the nurses, everyone. I couldn’t make sense of my life,” Caroline recalls.
Worst of all was the loss of independence: prior to the accident, Caroline had worked as a facilities coordinator. It was a job she loved, and one which tapped into her natural ability for being organised. Now, confined to a wheelchair as she was, she could no longer fulfil the role’s highly physical requirements.
However, it was the restraints on her freedom of movement that bothered her most. “If I wanted to leave the house, my husband and son had to lift me into the car. It was a long and difficult process because I am a heavy person. Then, when I was finally inside, I had to sit in a car seat that made me feel uncomfortable and I was in pain. Eventually, we decided it wasn’t worth the effort.”
The problem, though, is that Caroline observes, “For people who live in a wheelchair, leaving the house is like medicine. It’s crucially important.” This fact was driven home to her when she was left in the hands of a carer while the rest of a family took a trip to Cape Town.
That was a turning point: she decided to find a solution that would enable her to enjoy a better quality of life. Online research helped her find a hydraulic lift that could haul her wheelchair into the car and allow her to remain seated in it, rather than in the car seat.
Caroline soon realised the potential of offering transport services to other disabled people, so that they could also enjoy greater freedom.
At the same time, she applied other insights from her own experience to provide more services, including online shopping for products that might be needed by the disabled. “I had to ask people to buy adult diapers, for example. They would often return empty-handed, claiming the shop was out of stock – even though I had already to phoned to confirm the store’s supplies. I realised that they simply found it too embarrassing. By making it possible for people to purchase these products online, they can ensure they never run out.”
DAAT now operates four cars, and with requests for transport coming from as far afield as Cape Town, Caroline has dreams of extending the company’s reach beyond its current Johannesburg base to all major South African cities – but, she says, “growth is slowed because it is extremely expensive to equip a car with a lift. Finances remain a challenge.”
She would also like to grow the online shopping side of the business, ensuring enough inventory so that customers never wait more than three days for delivery.
Creating employment is a further goal: she hopes to provide jobs for no fewer than 15 people.
“I would like DAAT to become well known as a project founded by a disabled woman who has experienced challenges, so that people like me realise that they are still able. I want to be a blessing to others, to make them understand that anything is possible if they hold on to hope.”
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