Portia Mavhungu, social innovator
Portia Muvhungu
Portia Mavhungu invented a device that allows those in wheelchairs to use the toilet without having to be lifted from their chair.
Thirty-year-old Mavhungu, a Pretoria-based social entrepreneur, called her invention the Para Tube.
She came up with the idea after being confined to a wheelchair for a while after an accident.
“In 2011, I had an accident where I broke my pelvis. I was in the hospital for several weeks and in a wheelchair for the rest of the year. I fell into a depression over the loss of my independence. I needed my mother to lift me every time I needed to use the toilet.
“I was in this situation for only a short time and thought about how hard it would be for those who experience this their whole lives.”
With the Para Tube, the user pulls the centre part of the seat forward with a handle, and the middle seat flips up in the shape of a toilet. The user then defecates or urinates into a biodegradable bag in the opening. The bag locks in any smell and can then be disposed of in a similar way to a nappy.
This invention is the first of its kind. Its efficiency and use of material offer greater comfort and ease than anything else available on the market.
“The commode, which is our competitor, uses a bucket system. The commode seat is hard and people start sweating and develop sores, and their backs are hurt,” says Mavhungu.
“With us, the seating is breathable material. It has PVC in the centre, so you’re able to wipe it. The seat is waterproof and the height of the seat protects the user’s lumbar spine.”
The device will also be a great help in hospitals.
“We have a shortage of nurses in South Africa,” says Mavhungu. “When you’re in a hospital, you have to wait for a nurse to lift you and place a steel bedpan underneath you.
“I remember being in hospital with a broken pelvis and being taken off morphine. The nurses would put a bedpan underneath me and leave me, and I would just be shaking and in pain and waiting for the nurse to come back to take me off the bedpan.”
Mavhungu says she didn’t decide to become an inventor, but always knew she wanted to help people. Her mother died from cancer in 2017, and she left her job to focus on developing the Para Tube.
“What drives me is the passion. I know I’ve succeeded when someone has used the device and it’s helped them,” she says.
– Grethe Kemp
Read: This SA-invented device helps the disabled use the toilet
