Cape Town's Dial-A-Ride service cuts: A blow to the disabled community
The fate of disabled commuters, left in the lurch by the downscaling of the City’s Dial-A-Ride service, is unsure with few other affordable options available.
From 08 September 2025, the City of Cape Town will discontinue the vital Dial-a-Ride service for residents who are blind, visually impaired, and people with other disabilities, leaving only those who are wheelchair-bound or have severe mobility impairments able to use the service.
Notukelo Makohliso from the Western Cape Black Disability Forum said Dial-A-Ride is not a luxury; but an essential lifeline.
“The City’s suggestion that the service is primarily for getting to work ignores the reality that the majority of the disability community is unemployed. We rely on this service for education, healthcare, and our safety and dignity.”
She added: “The suggested alternatives are not viable. E-hailing services are simply too expensive for people who mostly survive on a disability grant. Public trains and MyCiTi buses are not accessible to most disabilities due to profound mobility challenges and inaccessible infrastructure.
“To use inaccessible public transport, we are forced to depend on guides and carers, stripping away our independence. We also face structural barriers like poor infrastructure and attitudinal barriers from an impatient public untrained in disability awareness, making us easy targets for crime and bullying.
“Ultimately, these cuts will result in persons with disabilities being isolated in our homes, cut off from society, and denied our basic rights to education, healthcare, freedom of movement, and a dignified life.”
The Western Cape Network on Disability has since also started an online petition on Change.Org calling on the City to keep to its existing service levels and stop the cancellation of Dial-a-Ride.
Cosatu in the Western Cape also condemned the decision: ““By severing this lifeline, the City of Cape Town is not only undermining their right to mobility but also their constitutional rights to dignity, equality, and freedom of movement.”
“This is the logic of austerity, where the needs of the marginalized are the first on the chopping block to balance spreadsheets.”
The City of Cape Town defended its decision. Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, explained the rationale: “The rationale is based on lack of funding and an unsustainable operating model. The decision to realign the DaR with its original purpose, namely to only transport eligible people in wheelchairs and those with severe walking impairments from home to work, has been very difficult.
“The DaR is on the brink of imploding… The only alternative is for other spheres of government, the private sector, and NGOs in this space to assist with either funding, or resources.”
He added that the service was never designed as a permanent transport solution when it was introduced in 2002 to serve a very specific need: transporting wheelchair users and people with severe mobility impairments to and from work until mainstream public transport became universally accessible.
“Over time, demand grew beyond this scope to include other users, and for trips that are not related to work. This has added significant pressure on the limited funding and operational resources for the service.”
Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA ) said their trains are accessible to the disabled.
“The trains are designed with wide automated sliding doors with easy access into and off the train. The doors are fitted with obstacle detection functionality that allows doors to open immediately should an obstacle be detected at the door close attempt.
“Passenger Emergency Alarm handles are fitted next to all doors to enable passengers to pull the alarm and communicate directly with the driver through the installed intercom. Each coach is fitted with CCTV cameras to observe comfort and behavior of all passengers on board.
“Two of the six coaches have a wheelchair-friendly section with holding bars to secure the wheelchair in position. On the same coach there are two reserved seats for differently abled passengers to sit on and hold on the fitted special handle bar.
“There is an intercom two-way communication button in proximity to the disabled persons’ sitting area fitted in position for use in case of emergency or call for assistance. Each seating section of the train has reserved seats for priority sitting at the ends for use by any person of different ability.
“The six-car consist of the train allows free movement throughout the train from one end to the other through gangways. The gangways are also fitted with handle bars on either side of the train.
“A Passenger Announcement and Information system is installed throughout the train to allow drivers to communicate emergencies and critical information at any time during the journey.”
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za