Sanitiser dispenser for people with disabilities

Sanitiser dispenser for people with disabilities 

A Limpopo businessman has made it easier for people with disabilities to sanitise their hands.

The need to create an affordable, automatic hand sanitising dispenser for people with disabilities inspired Limpopo boilermaker Ezekiel Moimane (45) to design and manufacture one.

It was during the national lockdown that Moimane, from Phalaborwa in Limpopo, realised that many people in his rural area struggled to use the widely available pedal sanitiser dispensers.

These dispensers were not user-friendly, especially for those in wheelchairs.

Moimane decided to do something about this by designing and manufacturing an automatic sanitiser dispenser that is better suited for people with disabilities.

“They just have to put their hands below the nozzle and the sensor will detect them.

“It then automatically dispenses hand sanitiser. One can place it at the entrance of their workplace, shop or home. It can sanitise 650 pairs of hands,” he explains.

While there are sanitiser dispensers like the one Moimane designed in the country, he says they are expensive and not readily available in rural areas.

“I used stainless steel, mild steel and other related materials to manufacture the device. This makes it cheaper to make and cheaper to sell,” he adds.

Moimane’s dispenser has a 1.3-litre switch tank that holds the sanitiser and a 220-volt back-up battery that can last for seven hours without electricity. The pump nozzle can be adjusted to disperse between 2ml and 10ml of sanitiser at a time.

Moimane says he completed the project through self-knowledge and determination.

“I completed matric at Tshabelang Dinoko High School and furthered my studies to become a boilermaker at Ekurhuleni Academy in 2008. I then established my own company, Let Him Decide. Now I am the founder of this important hand sanitising dispenser,” he says.

Moimane plans to donate some of the dispensers to disability centres and old- age homes in his area.

“We all need to play our part in fighting the spread of the Coronavirus Disease. I know it may not seem like much, but I will be happy to be among those who contributed,” he says.