By Buziwe Nocuze
- Wheelchair users in Khayelitsha say some taxi drivers demand R35 or R51 instead of the normal R17 fare because their wheelchairs occupy extra seats.
- Disability grant recipients say the extra taxi costs take money away from food, medical appointments and payments to people who help care for them.
For two years, wheelchair user Thembakazi Mbelu says she has quietly paid more than other passengers just to travel by taxi.
Now she has had enough.
The 35-year-old from Khayelitsha in Cape Town says some Codeta taxi drivers charge wheelchair users twice or even three times the normal fare.
A trip that costs another passenger R17 can cost a wheelchair user R35 or even R51.
Mbelu says drivers tell them they must pay more because their wheelchairs take up the space of other passengers.
“We have been quiet for too long while we are dying inside,” she said.
“For the past two years, the Codeta drivers have been charging us more. We are treated differently from other passengers.”
Mbelu is now calling on the taxi association’s management to step in and speak to drivers.
For wheelchair users who depend on taxis to get around, refusing to pay can mean being left without transport.
“The drivers said a wheelchair takes up the space of two to three passenger seats,” Mbelu said.
“We cannot continue keeping quiet about this. We depend on taxis for daily transport. Overcharging us causes stress and it is not fair.”
The extra money may appear small for one journey, but Mbelu says it quickly becomes a heavy burden.
Many wheelchair users survive on government disability grants.
Paying an extra R17 or R34 for one trip means less money for other basic needs.
And if they have to travel twice in one day, the cost grows even further.
“An extra R34 or R17 twice a day adds up quickly and eats into our grant income,” Mbelu said.
She said that same money is needed to keep households going.
“Most of us are dependent on that money to buy food for our families, pay for insurance policies, set aside money for our medical appointments, and also pay the people who assist us.”
The issue has now caught the attention of the Siyaphila Disability Group.
Founder and chairperson Ayaleboha Kopo Shokoa said the group plans to approach the taxi association’s management directly.
She said wheelchair users should not have to pay extra simply because they need mobility equipment.
“We don’t have money to pay for our wheelchairs, but I trust that it will be solved, especially if the management said they didn’t know about this,” Shokoa said.
Codeta chairperson Nceba Enge told Scrolla.Africa that the association’s leadership was not aware that wheelchair users were being charged extra.
“It is the first time that we are hearing about this. We will look into it,” Enge said.
For Mbelu and other wheelchair users, that intervention cannot come soon enough.
Their complaint is about more than an extra R17 or R34.
They say it is about being treated like every other passenger.
Wheelchair users still need taxis to reach shops, medical appointments and other places they need to go.
But Mbelu says every extra fare takes another bite out of money already stretched between food, healthcare and other household costs.
After two years of paying more, she and other wheelchair users are no longer prepared to suffer in silence.
They now want Codeta’s management to ensure that needing a wheelchair does not mean paying two or three times the normal price for the same journey.
Pictured above: Wheelchair users in Khayelitsha say some taxi drivers charge them extra because their wheelchairs take up passenger space.
Image source: Buziwe Nocuze
