They have difficulty moving, but that doesn't mean they can't move. "Does anyone here want to start their own Internet company?", Ivor Blumenthal, the Services SETA chief, asked a class of ambitious entrepreneurs.
One woman wanted to raise her hand but she couldn't. She's a quadriplegic, so, instead, she nodded vigorously.
The 75 pupils in the class have two things in common - they are disabled and they refuse to let their disability stand in the way of their dreams.
They wanted to start their own businesses but the obstacles in their way have made it almost impossible. So, they enrolled in Amasondo Esibindi (wheels of courage), a year-long business course
conceived by the Services Seta and the Quadriplegic Association of SA (Qasa).
Last week, the class received motivational talks from business gurus.
Ari Seirlis, the Qasa director, explained: "During the year the students will fine-tune their business plans. By the end of the year, they will turn their business plans into businesses."
"This learnship project is a valuable resource for new business owners who usually have to manage their problems alone. Helping people to start their own businesses ensures that we are creating a pool of job makers rather than job takers," Seirlis said.
During the year, the students will learn about financial planning, handling cash-flow, the fine art of speaking to bank managers, management skills and how to cope when they hit brick walls. At the end of the year, Qasa will give students with viable plans seed capital of R4 000 to launch their businesses.
On Thursday, Blumenthal told the students they should draw on their experiences of being disabled.
"You've experienced more pain, more anguish, more embarrassment and more anger than anyone because of what you have to go through each day."
"You have to channel that pain - because you know what it's like to be at the bottom and still persevere. Those are the skills that make good entrepreneurs. Those skills can't be bought."
He warned the students not to go the route of selling crafts on the side of the road. "You are better than that. Your life and the obstacles you have had to overcome have made you better than that. There is nothing to stop you from thinking big."
Seirlis has helped drive the initiative because, as a quadriplegic, he knows too well about the obstacles.
"We don't have opportunities. We can't even get through the banks' security doors to ask them for finance," said Seirlis.
"Disability creates a feeling of non-confidence for potential investors. When financial institutions eventually agree to give us money, a couple of points are added to the interest rate."
He told the group not to underestimate the power of the disabled lobby.
"If we started a political party and every disabled person voted for us, we would be the official opposition," said Seirlis.
"If every person with a disability and one of their loved ones voted for us, we would rule this country. We are strong."
Thandi Bvuma, 22, cuts a tiny figure as she whizzes by in her electric wheelchair, but she has big plans.
"I want to start a market research company," she grinned. "I want to conduct surveys. I believe I can do it because I believe in myself."
Thandi has a shortage of calcium and her bones break easily. What she has to do just to get through each day is a struggle that makes the jobs of top directors seem like a breeze.
Another tiny person who thinks large is Maureen Netshisqulu. The 20-year-old dwarf who struggles to walk is confident that one day she will own a chain of successful clothes shops, importing the finest fashions from all corners of the world. After that she will open a restaurant.
"At first people don't take me seriously because of what I look like. It's only when they get to know me that they believe that I can succeed," she said.
Twenty-nine-year-old Millicent Soldongwana, who is paralysed on the right side of her body, said people think that because she's disabled, she's stupid.
"They think that I'm not a person. We shouldn't be discriminated against; we can do whatever you can do."
Allon Raiz, director of Raizcorp, which helps businesses get off the ground, agreed.
Delivering his speech "What they don't teach you about being an entrepreneur", he explained that people who don't get things easily in life are more likely to become entrepreneurs than people who do."
"There's power in being disabled, and you must not think of yourselves as disabled and disadvantaged - you are advantaged. Because you don't get breaks, you know what it's like to fight hard."
Rudi Lombard, 37, can only move his left hand slightly but he is patenting a product that he has developed.
He became a quadriplegic after a car crash 22 years ago.
"I was so busy getting used to coping with my disability that I didn't have time to feel sorry for myself," said Lombard. "I'm generally not the type of person who feels sorry for myself anyway. I knew I had a brain and that I can still have a successful life."
"People think that if you're in a wheelchair you're a beggar. I've been at Cresta shopping centre waiting for my driver and people have walked by and dropped coins in my tray."
This is a person who, with a stick in his mouth, designed a product on his computer.
"I can't talk about it. I can just say that it's a product that will make everybody's life easier. I saw a need and I went ahead"
Lombard said he was anxious to get his business off the ground.
"I want to be in production yesterday but that's not how life works. You have to take one step at a time. Or, in my case, one roll at a time."