Disabled Residents Left Stranded by City’s Broken Promises

GOOD Speech by Roscoe Palm, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor:

The GOOD Party rejects the spin and half-truths in the latest statement by Urban Mobility Mayco Member Roberto Quintas regarding the Dial-a-Ride (DaR) service. Once again, the City seeks to shift blame to national government rather than addressing its own inefficiencies.

Quintas has attempted to frame the challenge as one of costs per trip, presenting figures designed to create public resentment instead of solving the problem. This approach risks reducing a service that safeguards the dignity and independence of disabled residents to a financial transaction, when in fact it is a matter of human rights and access.

Despite the City’s public commitment that service changes would only take effect from 8 September 2025, many users have already been cut off as of last weekend. This premature reduction has left vulnerable residents stranded, disrupting work, health appointments, and daily lives.

GOOD oversight has also revealed serious inefficiencies and mismanagement by the contracted service provider, HG Travel Service, which the City has failed to address.

These include:

• Reports of empty vehicles running while users are told there is “no capacity.”
• Multiple vehicles dispatched to the same area instead of optimising routes.
• Chronic scheduling inefficiencies that waste fuel, time, and public funds.

Beyond the operational failures, service cuts carry serious safety risks. Disabled residents, particularly blind commuters, are left vulnerable to attack when transport is withdrawn without warning or alternatives.

Cllr Quintas has also directed his appeal for additional funding to the Department of Social Development, which does not carry a transport mandate. A serious and effective appeal must be directed to National Treasury, where proper transport funding can be secured. This appeal to national government is just a convenient cover for the City to blame shift instead of govern.

The GOOD Party calls for:

• Immediate restoration of Dial-a-Ride operations until the publicly stated 8 September date.
• Expansion of the service to address the longstanding waiting list, with many applicants waiting more than a decade.
• A forensic investigation into the inefficiencies of HG Travel Service and the use of public funds.
• A serious funding appeal to National Treasury, rather than token letters to the wrong department.

The lives, livelihoods, and dignity of disabled residents cannot be measured by cost per trip. The City of Cape Town must stop hiding behind excuses and start fulfilling its responsibility to protect and empower its most vulnerable citizens.

GOOD Economic Policy: GOOD promotes a mixed economy that supports both private and public sectors.

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