SAE4D uses national Transport Month to highlight ongoing exclusion

SAE4D is an employer organisation that is committed to addressing issues confronting the integration of people with disabilities in the workplace.

SAE4D chairman, Dr Jerry Gule says that while inadequacies of the public transport system cause inconvenience for most commuters, it isolates people with disabilities. "It effectively makes it impossible for many potentially economically active individuals to get to and from work. And it hinders many businesses that sincerely wish to employ more people with disabilities from doing so."

Indeed, it has been estimated that only around 1% of people with disabilities in South Africa are employed. According to Dr Gule, there are many reasons for this, but a major issue is the fact that only a very small percentage of people with disabilities have access to private vehicles.

Society has to pay

In her 2005 thesis for her masters degree in Town and Regional Planning, "Investigating the public transport system in Cape Town with reference to special needs passengers", Deidre Ribbonaar stated: "Society suffers in terms of costs due to (people with disabilities) not being able to function independently in normal daily activities. The costs in terms of what society has to give are included in tax increases so as to pay for special assistance to a (person with disability) not being able to access employment opportunities because of an obstructive public transport system."

Dr Gule notes that as a signatory to the 2007 UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, South Africa is required to develop a public transport network that accommodates people with disabilities. "South Africa also has a plethora of legislation relating to the need to include people with disabilities into the country's economic and social mainstream starting with the Constitution. There have also been numerous policy and legislative directives over the years which emphasise the need to make our public transport system more accessible.

"But this is not being translated into action quickly enough. Indeed, SAE4D is concerned that the Department of Transport's latest strategic plan for 2012 - 2014 makes no mention of the needs of people with disabilities. It is therefore vitally important we use national Transport Month to highlight the ongoing exclusion of one significant group of people from our public transport system - people with disabilities," he adds.