Cape Town - Almost a decade after the Western Cape Transport Department donated about R18 million for a facelift at Mandalay and Lentegeur train stations, both are still inaccessible to disabled and handicapped commuters.
However, organisations advocating for people living with disabilities claim this is not the only station with challenges.
Disabled People of South Africa (DPSA) provincial secretary Anthony George said he was annoyed that almost two-thirds of stations in the Western Cape were disabled-unfriendly.
He urged the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and the Transport Department authorities to make necessary changes. But the Transport Department says it has nothing to do with the trains as they fall under the umbrella of Prasa for upgrades.
A Cape Times snap survey conducted on the central line, which compromises 26 stations, excluding Cape Town Central, showed that all stations were disabled-unfriendly.
This is even though some have had lifts installed.
The stations are Chris Hani, Kuyasa, Khayelitsha, Nolungile, Nonkqubela, Mandalay, Stock Road, Mitchells Plain, Lentegeur, Kapteinsklip, Philippi, Nyanga, Heideveld, Netreg, Bonteheuwel, Langa, Pinelands, Ndabeni, Maitland, Koeberg, Salt River, Woodstock, Mutual, Ysterplaat and Esplanade.
George said disabled people and handicapped commuters still “had to be carried up and down the stairs” by security personnel because of “faulty lifts” at the stations.
When the Cape Times visited the stations, there was no sign of progress or work being done at the stations.
State-of-the-art lifts with built-in intercoms were installed at Mandalay to transport people in wheelchairs from the bottom deck to the ticket sellers on the top deck, then down to the platform to board a train. But these lifts have never been in operation.
They were part of the station’s R9m makeover in December 2004, aimed at making it accessible to disabled commuters.
Siphesihle Dube, speaking on behalf of Transport MEC Donald Grant, said that the department “has no control over train stations, which are the property of Prasa and Metrorail”.
“Only they can comment on plans to increase accessibility at stations and on trains.”
Prasa spokesman Lindelo Matya said the lifts had been vandalised and he confirmed that the company knew they were not operational.
“Unfortunately this is because of vandalism,” said Matya, admitting that this posed “difficulty for handicapped people”.
“It still remains a challenge and it is unacceptable,” he added.
He said stations were identified and by September should be functioning fully, as an independent contractor has been appointed to do the repairs.
“We need to partner with communities to protect the resources as we cannot allow a situation where major investment is vandalised in this manner,” said Matya.
Cape Times