Western Cape Black Disability Forum demands CoCT restore all Dial-a-Ride services

CAPE TOWN - Persons with disabilities in Cape Town are calling on the City of Cape Town to review its decision to reduce its Dial-a-Ride service.

The city has announced the scaling back of some of its Dial-a-Ride offerings to disabled people in the metro.

Only wheelchair users and those with severe walking impairments will be able to use the service to and from work.

This excludes visually impaired and blind people, the elderly, and organisations using the service to transport people with disabilities.

The transporting of disabled people to school, church, and to shops will no longer be available for Dial-a-Ride users in Cape Town from 8 September. 

The municipality said it does not have the money to continue funding these offerings.

Western Cape Black Disability Forum's Notukelo Makohliso said the changes were unacceptable.

"Every citizen deserves the right to be able to move around and live a life of dignity. We are here as a sector to say that enough is enough, they must restore all of the services with immediate effect."

The municipality said it was running at a loss operating the service at a cost of R40 million a year.