LERATO LELIA
A hotline for reporting the use of disabled parking bays without a permit has been established by the South African community action network (SACAN). The hotline comes as a relief for many disabled people who often struggle to find parking due to their parking bays being occupied by able bodied people.
“What we have found is that so many disabled people get to these parking bays and they cannot get out of their car and ask somebody to move. What happens is that they get really sad and then end up going home. Quite quickly a day of an outing turns into a day of sadness. That is why SACAN is taking this on in such a big way,” said the Founder of SACAN, Brian Jones.
The hotline has been established to give those that are disabled a voice to be able to contact their community incident management centre. It is a free line, to notify the centre of a blocked disabled parking bay or of someone using the parking bay without a permit. When a member of the public calls with a description and the location of the vehicle, the duty manager will contact the shopping centre or establishment and tell management to move the vehicle.
“It has been quite interesting for us because we did not realize how much of a hotline was needed and the response has been really overwhelming and we are glad for that,” added Jones.
The hotline is open to everyone, not just disabled people, to report the use of disabled parking bays by people without a permit.
People can call the hotline number on 086 167 2226 or 08616 SACAN. The number is live 24/7.
