People with disabilities highlight transport woes
Organisation protests over the failings of Cape Town’s Dial-A-Ride service
DIAL-A-RIDE was failing in its mandate to provide reliable, effective and accessible transportation to people with disabilities.
This is according to a list of grievances handed over at the Civic Centre in Cape Town’s CBD yesterday.
The Cape Town Association for the Physically Disabled (CTAPD) held a protest on the steps of the Civic Centre to highlight their plight.
They claimed the Dial-A-Ride service, operated by the City of Cape Town, left passengers behind, while only transporting two or three people at a time, and that the procedure of booking a ride a week in advance was not practical.
CTAPD also wanted more vehicles to be made available so that its clients, many of whom used wheelchairs, could get to work, school and other appointments.
The clients said they were missing out on employment opportunities and learnerships as a result of the poor service. They also wanted the city to make more funds available for Dial-A-Ride to improve its operations.
CTAPD’s social workers continue to receive a number of complaints from clients who are registered users of the Dial-A-Ride special transport service, regarding the operations.
In April 2016, users of the Dial-ARide service protested over the availability, cost and safety of the service and against the use of MyCiTi branding on the vehicles.
Clients took it upon themselves and requested assistance in organising a march to voice their frustrations and concerns.
“It was our role as social service practitioners to advocate for our clients, hence we were involved in organising this march” the CTAPD added.
Social worker Mandilakhe Mlungwana arranged with the City of Cape Town for the peaceful protest to take place yesterday morning.
About 50 clients from areas such as Retreat, Gugulethu, Nyanga, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Dunoon, Philippi and Langa attended the march.
A delegation from Dial-A-Ride received the memorandum of grievances.
It was handed over by a client of CTAPD, Siyabonga Soganga, to Ronald Kingma of the Dial-A-Ride office.