Durban – MANY Durban minibus drivers and commuters have been flouting Covid-19 regulations by not wearing masks.
However, the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) in KwaZulu-Natal said it was aware of the complaints and had plans to address them.
In recent months and especially after the announcement of level 1 of the lockdown, the hype around the wearing of masks and sanitising hands has subsided in minibus taxis. When President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the wearing of masks in public areas and on public transport was mandatory, minibus taxis did not leave the taxi rank if a commuter did not have a mask on.
They were asked to disembark and only get on once they had bought a mask. This encouraged informal traders to sell masks. Santaco KZN also put posters inside taxis. One poster read: “No mask no entry”.
The posters were stuck next to both passenger doors of a number of taxis throughout the city. Santaco KZN also promoted the sanitisation of hands and the wearing of masks before boarding taxis.
“Now, taxi drivers only care about whether they have a mask or not for when they go into a shop, because they do not allow customers to enter without wearing masks. Taxi drivers also joke around and say there is no more Covid-19 and do not understand why commuters and the general public continue to walk around with masks,” complained a commuter.
Since level 1, there have reportedly been more people not wearing masks than wearing them. On Facebook, commuters called on Santaco KZN to provide them with a contact number to report drivers and conductors who did not wear masks.
However, Santaco KZN office manager Sifiso Shangase said it recently had a meeting in the province where this issue was discussed. “We will consider writing and sending a circular to all regions alerting them that there have been complaints that drivers were no longer wear masks and not sanitising, yet the virus is still here and the lockdown. We’ll write something and remind them.”
Shangase felt it would be better to tackle the matter at a regional level so that the response would be quicker. He encouraged those working under the Hlokomela campaign to follow up on the matter and fine those who were not complying.
“We will try to remind them to continue with their work because spot fines encourage them to follow up.”
He said a spot fine should not be more than R500 but it also depended on the area.
He encouraged those working under the Hlokomela campaign to follow up on the matter and fine those who were not complying. “We will try to remind them to continue with their work because spot fines encourage them to follow up.”
Daily News