GOOD Statement by Roscoe Palm, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:
The City of Cape Town’s plan to drastically scale back the Dial-a-Ride service from 8 September 2025 will strip the most vulnerable residents of their only safe and reliable means to reach jobs, healthcare, education, and community life.
Currently, Dial-a-Ride transports 350 regular users and 2,270 passengers on an ad-hoc basis. It has been in operation since the late 1990’s and has served to link the disabled – including the mentally disabled, visually impaired, and infirm to health services, places of worship, sports, work, and community activities.
This crucial service will now be limited to wheelchair bound and people with severe walking impairments, and only to and from work. According to sources, more than 1,000 of our most vulnerable will find the city even more unaffordable and exclusionary than it already is.
The City claims a R12 million annual shortfall makes the expanded service “unsustainable.” This is unacceptable. In a municipal budget of over R70 billion, R12 million is a rounding error. But for thousands of people with disabilities, it is the difference between dignity and exclusion.
This reversal is particularly galling given that just last year, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas, was boasting about the programme’s expansion under a new six-year, R28,1 million-per-year contract with HG Travelling Services:
“Importantly, the new contract allows for the expansion of the service, through subcontracting, to accommodate more eligible users as more budget becomes available in future years,” Quintas said at the time.
Disability is not a choice, but exclusion is. Quintas’ decision to gut one of Cape Town’s legacy social safety net projects is starkly at odds with the City’s oft-stated values of Opportunity, Care, Accessibility, and Safety.
We call on Mayco member, Rob Quintas, to act immediately to find the R12 million needed to keep Dial-a-Ride accessible for all its current users, and also to expand the service as the City’s transport infrastructure expands to match the growing needs of this city.
GOOD Manifesto on Social Welfare: Supporting social welfare programs for vulnerable communities.
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