BY GCWALISILE MHLABANE
MANZINI– The Luke Commission (TLC) has appealed to the public to identify persons with disabilities who need wheelchairs, revealing that 3000 wheelchairs are available at its campus for people who require mobility support.
TLC co-founder Echo Nomsa VanderWal made the announcement during the official opening of the organisation’s new Manzini Satellite Clinic at The Central Hive on Monday, September 28, 2026.
VanderWal said anyone in Eswatini who needs a wheelchair but does not have one should be connected with TLC to access the available equipment.
“We don’t lack wheelchairs now. At the campus, we have 3000 in stock there,” she said.
“If you know of any person in Eswatini who doesn’t have a wheelchair, they must go, they must get one.”
This means families, caregivers and community members who know a person living with a disability and in need of a wheelchair can refer that person to TLC’s campus to seek access to one of the available wheelchairs.
VanderWal did not outline a separate application process, required documentation or eligibility requirements in her remarks, but made clear that people without wheelchairs who need one should approach TLC.
The initiative was inspired by VanderWal’s early experiences in rural communities in Eswatini, where she encountered people with mobility challenges who had no access to wheelchairs.
“When I first came to Eswatini and went to rural areas, I saw people crawling on their hands and knees. I saw people being carried on blankets. I saw people in wheelbarrows,” she said.
She said those experiences led TLC to seek a long-term solution that would improve mobility and dignity for people living with disabilities.
About 15 years ago, VanderWal approached California-based Free Wheelchair Mission to explore a partnership aimed at providing wheelchairs to people in Eswatini.
“I asked if they could please consider partnering with the nation of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Eswatini, so that we could take our people off the ground, and off those blankets, and off of those wheelbarrows, and put them into wheelchairs, not for just today, but for years to come,” she said.
The partnership has continued over the years and has resulted in TLC having a substantial stock of wheelchairs available for people who require mobility assistance.
VanderWal said the programme was designed to provide people with mobility equipment that could serve them beyond a single day or temporary intervention.
The wheelchair announcement came as TLC expanded its healthcare services in Manzini through its new satellite clinic, which officially opened on Monday and commenced full clinical operations that afternoon.
The wheelchair initiative extends TLC’s work beyond clinical services by addressing mobility needs among people living with disabilities.
For communities that previously saw people with mobility challenges being carried, crawling or using wheelbarrows, the availability of 3000 wheelchairs creates an opportunity for those in need to seek appropriate mobility equipment.
TLC is therefore urging members of the public who know people living with disabilities without wheelchairs to connect them with TLC’s campus so they can seek access to the available wheelchairs.
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