Ask Mandlenkosi Madlala, 42, for any of the 500 telephone extensions at the Pietermaritzburg headquarters of KwaZulu-Natal's Department of Transport, and he doesn't hesitate.
This may not seem surprising, considering he's the organisation's switchboard operator - until you realise he's been in his job for only two years, he's blind... and he's doing it from memory.
Looking for MEC S'bu Ndebele? Madala immediately blurts out the four digits of his extension.
Madlala is one of an increasing number of disabled people being employed in government departments in terms of the Batho Pele ("People First") customer care campaign.
A man of extraordinary courage, Madlala did not allow his 1998 retrenchment as a packer at Mooi River Textiles to determine his destiny.
With both his disability and age working against him, many would have thought he would be among the last to get a fresh start. But only two years later he landed a job as a switchboard operator.
Being Braille-literate helped him adapt quickly, as did the department's voice-activated switchboard.
Using his fingers, he can read the department's many newsletters, in both English and isiZulu, without any difficulty.
"I'm enlightened. Since I got here I've got a copy of the Labour Relations Act, the Employment Equity Act, integrated disability documents and a copy of my internal telephone directory. I know a lot about government policies," says Madlala.
And that is certainly a more than many sighted people can boast.
