y wantedmetopay$6 000
aboutR56000)formyproto-
didn’tevenearna quarterof
s Portia,whowasa corporate
chnicianfora telecommuni-
ompanyatthattime.
refusedtogiveuponher
2014 shewenttotheUnion
n Pretoria,collectedemailad-
ministerialpersonalassistants
d allofthem,requestingfund-
s bowledovertoreceivea re-
mthedepartmentofscience
nologya daylater,referring
heTechnologyInnovation
TIA),anagencythatsupports
gical innovation.“Eleven
terI sentmyapplicationto
eceivedR1millionfunding.”
theTIA,Portiametengineers
stsatVaalUniversityofTech-
o turnedherinitiallycomplex
a simple,low-techproduct.
ypewasreadyin2016.
henpartneredwithlawyer
Chellan(25)andtogether
eda company,PRDLogical
toproducetheseat.
yearit gota welcomeboost
moffundingtothetuneof
n fromtheIndustrialDevelop-
poration.They’recurrentlyin
ssofmanufacturing 20 seats,
ll betakenforfieldtesting.
f scientificthoughtgoesinto
tionofeachchair.
y seatcanbecustomisedac-
g totheperson’susage,be-
yourspine,weightandheight
er– soallofthatis takeninto
sideration,”Portiaexplains.
existingseatofa wheelchair
movedandreplacedperma-
withThePara-Tube,which
s sosimple,Portiasays,that
doit themselves.
e theycangointomasspro-
eyneedtogetapprovalfrom
AfricanBureauofStandardsandtheSouthAfricanMedicalCouncil.
Oncethathappensthey’llbeableto
startsellingtheirproductlocallyand
internationally.Portiasaysthey’rehop-
ingtolaunchinJanuary.H
ERinventionis allthemore
remarkablewhenyoucon-
siderwhatwasgoingonin
herprivatelifewhileshe
wastryingtogetitoffthe
ground.Duringtheinitial
stagesofthedevelopmentPortialived
withhermother,Anna,adomestic
worker,onthepropertyofheremployer,
NeelavathyKolapen,inLenasia.
PortiawasveryclosetoNeelavathyand
regardedherasanhonorarygrandmoth-
er– shewastheonewhohelpedlifther
totheloowhenshewasconfinedtoa
wheelchair.Soshewasdevastatedin 2014
whenNeelavathydieda fewmonthsafter
undergoinga hip-replacementoperation.
In 2017 therewasmoretragedywhen
Portia’smomlostherbattlewithcancer.
Whilehermotherwasstrugglingwith
thedisease,Portiaquitherjobtocon-
centrateondevelopingthePara-Tube.
Butasherquesttogetit intodevelop-
mentintensifiedshehadtomakea lot
ofsacrifices.Sheevensleptundera tree
nexttoa policestationononeoccasion
tobeearlyfora meetingthenextday.
Assoonasshereceivedhergrant
thingsgoteasieronthefinancialfront;
sherecentlymovedintoa newtwo-bed-
roomhomeinCenturionafterhaving
livedwithhergirlfriendTazlynnAdams
(23)andherfamilyfortwoyears.
Butshehasn’tforgottenhowit feelsto
struggleandhavepeopleridiculingher
becauseofherinvention.“Iknowthe
feelingofbeinglaughedat,”shesays.
“Peopleevencalledit thesh**toilet.”
Butnow,afteralmostnineyearsof
persistence,she’shavingthelastlaugh.
Herinnovativeproducthasearned
hermultipleawardsandmaychange
manylives.http://www.drum.co.za 8 AUGUST 2019 | (^67)
t
“They
(thena
type.Id
that,”says
officetec
cationsc
Yetshe
dream.In 2
Buildingsin
dressesofm
andemailed
ing.She wa
sponsefrom
andtechn
hertoth
Agency(T
technolog
monthsaft
theTIA,I re
Throught
andscientis
nology, w ho
design into
The prototy
Portiath
Darushna
theystarte
Solutions,t
Andthis
in theform
R5million
mentCorp
theproces
whichwil
Alotof
thecreat
“Every
cording
causey
matte
cons
The
is rem
nently
clipson.It’s
clientscan
Butbefor
ductionthe
the SouthA
LUBABALO LESOLL
E,SU
PPLIE
D
LEFTand
RIGHT:Portia
designedthe
Para-Tube,
aseatthat
allowspeople
whoare
wheelchair-
boundto
relievethem-
selveswithou
havingtobe
liftedoffthe
wheelchair.