During the past eight years Michelle Botha has served on the Western Cape Network on Disability in several capacities, including four years as vice-chair and two as chair.
She may be the outgoing chair now, but is as busy as ever.
Botha holds a doctoral degree in disability studies from the University of Cape Town, where she focused on the identity-level impact of rehabilitation services on newly blind adults in South Africa.
She now teaches at Stellenbosch University’s faculty of medicine & health sciences in the division of disability & rehabilitation studies.
For Botha, the subject is a personal one. At a young age she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition that degenerates the retina over time. She says she was fortunate to be diagnosed so young. Medical professionals told her parents not to expect much from her. But she has gone on to prove doubters wrong.
“It’s also helped me to make choices based on what I knew the future was going to hold. Over time, I’ve experienced sight loss in waves, which is what generally happens with these kinds of progressive conditions,” she says.
At the time of speaking to the FM, Botha was involved in a campaign to stop cuts by the City of Cape Town to the Dial-a-Ride service.
“We plough hours of voluntary time into causes like this. In the past few weeks, all hands have been on deck,” she says.
In August the city said it would cut the service except for wheelchair users and those with severe walking disabilities. Even then, it would be available only to take them to work and back. The network filed an urgent court interdict against the cuts.
It costs about R26 for a trip of 30km-40km on a Dial-a-Ride vehicle.
The cuts to the service were initially meant to take effect on September 8. But thanks to the court action, a settlement was reached and the measures were delayed until at least October 10. Botha describes the pause as a victory for people living with disabilities.
The city has operated Dial-a-Ride since 2002. It says in a statement: “Its ambit has expanded significantly over time to what was first initiated, and it’s important to note that municipalities are not mandated to provide this specialised service.
“In the absence of support from other spheres of government, the city has been forced to align the service with its original core objective of transporting wheelchair users and people with severe mobility impairments to and from work until mainstream public transport became universally accessible.”
In August, Botha, along with others from various organisations, protested at the steps of Cape Town’s civic centre. They handed a memorandum to the city in Braille.
“It was in direct response to what the city did when the announcement about the cuts was made public earlier that month. Officials delivered letters to that effect at the Cape Town Society for the Blind. The letters were printed.
“It added insult to injury — the decision had been made, but there was no thought about how to make that information accessible,” Botha says.
It’s an ableist lie that people with disabilities aren’t productive
— Michelle Botha
The protesters said it was appropriate to respond to the city that in a form that is accessible “to many of us” but would not be accessible to the officials,” says Botha.
She says the cuts are part of a global trend. “We are seeing governments cutting disability services, for example in the UK.
“It’s an ableist lie that people with disabilities aren’t productive or are unable to be productive.
“In fact, we are an incredibly productive community, and excellent at problem-solving, troubleshooting and building resilience. [It seems] disability is just not part of the agenda.
“Many of the people in our network did not begin their lives with disabilities, but through an accident, illness or injury, they suddenly stepped into our community.
“It should concern all of us, because it could have been us, and it probably will be us. If we live long enough, it actually will be all of us,” says Botha. “To believe that you somehow live in a bubble where this issue of disability is never going to touch you is naive.”
She calls the city’s suggestion that e-hailing is a solution a “joke”, on top of it being an expense. “As a person who uses a guide dog, I get turned away. I have drivers cancel on me. I have drivers pull up, see me, and then drive away.
“I’ve had experiences where I’ve had to fight with an Uber driver to allow my dog access, winning that fight but then having to sit in a vehicle with a man who’s clearly upset with me and who feels aggressive towards me.
“It’s not a great solution.
“Sometimes we just need a little bit of extra support to have those things. It’s our right to have those things, and we certainly want them.”
Last week the city announced a training run with the South African Guide-Dogs Association for a trial on the MyCiTi bus service.
Botha says she has been lucky to have been mentored by some “fantastic” people. One who comes to mind immediately for her is a founding member of the network, Vincent Daniels.
“I hope I can be that for younger folks with disabilities as well. I hope it’s something that I can pay forward.”
While she is stepping away from the position of chair, she is still planning to be involved.
For now, Botha will focus on her work at Stellenbosch. “I think it’s so important to develop health professionals who go into practice with an understanding of disability.”
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