The family of a Grade 12 learner, Kamogelo Motaung, is racing against time to raise enough funds to afford eye surgery.

Motaung has cataracts in both eyes and is desperate for assistance as this is  affecting his studies.

Although government hospitals offer the service, due to the backlog in surgeries, Motaung has been waiting for over a year.

The family needs to raise just over R37,000 for surgery to be performed at a private health facility.

Motaung says he dreams of uplighting his family.

“When I’m studying, I have to use a flashlight like my phone’s flashlight because I can’t see clearly. I can’t see things from a distance like when I’m starting to read, I must be closer and that injures my left eye because the problem started with my right eye. I’m not okay because I was supposed to be the one to change the situation at home. So, if I’m not doing that, I feel like I’m no use in my parent’s life, because I’m supposed to be the one providing for them. How am I supposed to do that when I can’t even pass at school,” he says.

North West Department of Health spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane say the department has decided to assist Motaung after the exams.

“The hospital management took a decision to act immediately. They contacted Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital, which was ready to assist the child this coming Monday but there was a realisation that the child is writing exams, and the clinical advice from the hospital was that the child should write the exam first because the cataract surgery can take up to 1 week to heal. The intention is that immediately after the child is done with writing the exam, they will come for that surgery,” says  Lekgethwane.

Grade 12 learner in need of a cataract eye operation: