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Background: Freedom of movement, which is dependent on community mobility, is a key contributor to good quality of life and important in the establishment of a person’s community identity. Objective: To describe the community mobility experiences of wheelchair users who lived in a socio-economically challenged setting. Method: The study setting was Paarl, a peri-urban area of the Western Cape province of South Africa. This article reports findings from phase 1 (a reflection on past community mobility and minibus taxi use experiences) of cycle 1 of a co-operative inquiry. Nine adult wheelchair users, eight caregivers, six minibus taxi drivers, and four community stakeholders participated. Data were collected during a focus group discussion and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: Four themes, ‘Knowledge, attitudes, and actions’, ‘Natural, manmade and mechanical environmental barriers’, ‘Health and safety concerns’ and ‘Poor community participation and quality of life’ were identified. The themes showed how difficult an everyday activity like moving around in the community were for wheelchair users, and how that limited their community involvement. Conclusions: Wheelchair users living in a low-income peri-urban area struggled to participate in community activities meaningful to them because various barriers hampered community wheelchair mobility and minibus taxi use. Contribution: The findings regarding community mobility struggles and specifically minibus taxi access guided specific recommendations and the further phases and cycles of the co-operative inquiry. The purpose of the co-operative inquiry was to allow co-researchers to find their voice and develop solutions to minibus taxi access for wheelchair users.

Die minibus taxi bedryf in Suid-Afrika is ’n belangrike afdeling van die vervoerstelsel, en daarom is dit ’n beduidende faktor in die nasionale ekonomie. Sedert die middeltagtiger jare het hierdie bedryf binne ‘n eie stel reëls en regulasies ontwikkel, in dié mate dat dit betrokke geraak het by wetteloosheid. Verskeie gewelddadige ‘taxi oorloë’ het al plaasgevind. In baie dele van die land is daar min alternatiewe openbare vervoerstelsels. Daarom het die eienaars wat die bedryf beheer, die gesamentlike mag ontwikkel om die regering se pogings om kontrole uit te oefen, te ontduik. Baie regeringsamptenare blyk betrokke te wees by taxi-sindikate. Die regering se taxi herkapitaliseringsprogram het ten doel om die swak beeld en veiligheidsrekord van die taxi-bedryf te verbeter, en om opnuut die mag af van die regering te druk op die toekenning van hulpbronne in die sektor. Hierdie inisiatief mag heel moontlik op ’n mislukking afstuur. ’n Meer pragmatiese oplossing sou kon wees om die bedryf te dereguleer, in samehang met effektiewe polisiëring, sodat die mag van die beherende partye in die bedryf aan bande gelê kan word.