Dial-a-Ride cuts: disability groups disappointed by meeting with City of Cape Town
The City says it is looking for additional funding
A protest outside the Civic Centre in Cape Town earlier this month after the announcement that the Dial-a-Ride service would be cut back. Archive photo: Mary-Anne Gontsana
- Organisations representing people with disabilities expressed disappointment after this weekâs meeting with City of Cape Town representatives over changes to the Dial-a-Ride service.
- The City has said that for budgetary reasons the service will be cut back from 8 September.
- Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas said addtional funding would be sought.
Disability organisations fighting to stop the scaling back of the Dial-a-Ride services have expressed disappointment about the outcome of this weekâs meeting with the City of Cape Town.
The City announced earlier this month that as of 8 September the service will only be available for wheelchair users and people with severe walking impairment. Due to budget constraints, people with visual and cognitive impairments, elderly people, and organisations using the service to transport people with disabilities will no longer be accommodated.
Disability organisations responded to the announcement with an open letter, a petition and a protest.
On Tuesday, members of disability organisations met the mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas and other City representatives.
Chairperson of the Western Cape Network on Disability Michelle Botha said the City âstuck to the message of the budgetary constraintsâ.
âThe meeting was very disappointing,â said Botha.
She said disability organisations had complained about a lack of consultation over the changes. They also raised issues with the existing service.
Sergil January, awareness officer at the Cape Town Society for the Blind, who was also in the meeting, said several questions had been left unanswered. He said the changes to the service were already in effect, though the City had indicated that these would only take effect from 8 September.
âWe strongly feel that the City must find the money to expand and reinstate services for those affected by these changes. There is so much wasteful spending ⌠while the livelihoods and dignity of the most vulnerable people are being sacrificed,â said January.
Other organisations attending the meeting included the Dial-a-Ride users forum, Western Cape Association for Persons with Disabilities, QuadPara Association, and Blind SA.
Quintas said an agreement had been made with the organisations to meet again in two months to review progress on attempts to get the national government, the private sector and other donors to provide additional funds.
âThe City will keep on appealing to external potential partners who may be willing and able to contribute to this specialised service, and we will lobby for this support in partnership with representatives of the disability sector,â he said.
Asked to comment on claims that the changes were already in effect, Quintas said, âSome ad hoc-bookings are no longer accepted as the service is operating at a deficit of approximately R1-million per month and the expenses must be curtailed as far as possible. However, current regular users are still being assisted as per normal, until the changes take effect on 8 September.â
The City says the annual budget for Dial-a-Ride is over R28-million, while annual operating costs are R40-million.The service currently has an average of 4,500 monthly passenger trips, or around 2,200 users each month. There are more than 460 users currently on the waiting list who say they need the service.
Botha said, âWe are not satisfied with the outcome of the meeting and we are going to be looking at other routes to pursue in order to have the service restored.â
âFrom what the councillor has said it looks like the changes will still happen on 8 September,â she said. âThe gunshot has been shot and it canât be unshot.â
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