Award-winning disability activist Eddie Ndopu has taken to social media to call out Comair Limited for damaging his wheelchair during a flight and having a discriminatory claims policy.
Comair is the aviation company that operates the domestic routes of British Airways in South Africa.
Ndopu was recently on a return trip from Johannesburg to Durban to give a keynote address on disability inclusion.
On his journey back, Ndopu says his state of the art wheelchair was broken in two.
The backrest of the wheelchair unhinged from the frame and the armrests on both sides were chipped.
He says the power chair cost £12000, which is roughly equivalent to R215 000.
When he laid his complaint, a Comair supervisor told him that disabled passengers are liable for whatever happens to their wheelchairs, regardless of whether or not the airline is in the wrong.
Ndopu says he has not yet received no confirmation that a case has been opened.
However, he says a Comair official called him on Thursday to apologise and assure him that they will look into the matter.
Ndopu says he wants a public apology and for Comair to replace his wheelchair.
He also wants Comair to revise its claims policy, which he says is in direct contravention of the right to freedom of movement.
Source: capetalk.co.za
