Disability organisations protest against Dial-a-Ride cuts

Hundreds of people protested outside the Cape Town Civic Centre on Monday. Photo: Mary-Anne Gontsala

Disability organisations held a picket outside the Cape Town Civic Centre on Monday against the City of Cape Town’s planned cuts to the Dial-a-Ride service.

The City announced earlier this month that from 8 September, the transport service will only be available for wheelchair users and people with severe walking impairments.

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.

The Western Cape Network on Disability said on Monday that they will be meeting with the City on Tuesday to find a way forward. Chairperson Michelle Botha said the decision to reduce the service was made “without any consultation or transparency”.

“Our mantra is: Nothing about us without us. And it’s been a slogan for the disability sector for decades. But the City doesn’t understand that it cannot make life-changing decisions like this without consulting the people who are most affected.”

Botha says some users are already being turned away, even though the new rules are only supposed to come into effect on 8 September.

Khayelitsha resident Mvelo Sikhanda, who walks using crutches and is a regular Dial-a-Ride user, said he uses the service to travel to and from his learnership in Goodwood. He told GroundUp that he was worried that should the service be limited, he would have to “stay home and do nothing with my life”.

Rob Quintas, mayco member for urban mobility, accepted a memorandum from the protesters, which was in braille.

Speaking to the media after the protest, Quintas said the operating costs for Dial-a-Ride were roughly R28-million per year, and every month they were about R1-million short.

“In the past, we have been able to rescue and prolong the service, but it has now been a challenge to get the funding. The reality is this year we are on a R12-million deficit.”

Quintas reiterated that the City had written to the Minister of Social Development Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe and others in her office seeking financial assistance but no acknowledgement or response was received.

He thanked the protesters for the braille version of the memorandum, but requested an emailed version to go through before he met with the organisations on Tuesday.

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