Johannesburg – Tumi Modibedi, a man who lost out on countless opportunities due to his stuttering impediment, hopes to raise awareness around the condition.
The SABC radio DJ and entrepreneur said it is a fundamental human right that people who stutter be treated with more respect and understanding and that government departments should do more to assist people with the condition.
It is important for education departments to come on board so that teachers can be equipped with the skills to teach learners who cannot express themselves adequately, as many end up leaving school, he said, noting that more than 600 000 people are affected by the condition in SA.
“International Stuttering Awareness Day is being celebrated in October all over the world except in South Africa. I have decided to walk from Bloemfontein to Kroonstad in October in recognition of the day,” said Modibedi.
He added that he was constantly bullied at school and teachers were unable to assist him.
Instead, they told him he was slow and insisted he repeat a grade.
While studying law, he quit his academic degree after being laughed at.
“When my time came to present my case to the class for debate, I could hear the whispering and laughs because they knew that I stutter. When I got to the front my eyes full of tears, I lost it and couldn’t utter a word. I struggled to even breathe. Now some started laughing. I took all that belonged to me and left the class. I decided to leave Pretoria and relocate to Bloemfontein.”
A sad reality in many black families is that they don’t know about services such as speech therapy being offered at public hospitals for free.
However, he said these services are limited as many qualified speech therapists do not speak African languages.
“Both my parents worked for the government and none of them knew anything about a speech therapist. Fast forward to 2021, we only have about four to five speech therapists in the Free State who can speak African languages.”
Modibedi started a support group, I Stutter campaign, which was adopted by the Free State department of education.
“We started going to schools helping learners who stutter in 2018. The MEC for social development, Mamiki Qabathe, also showed much interest. I am glad Free State is willing to help, but what about the other provinces? He will leave Bloemfontein on October 18 via Brandfort and hopes to get to Kroonstad on the Friday.
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