Taxi Association spreads Christmas TV cheer

KZN HEALTH MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Durban South Beach, North Beach and Addington Taxi Association for its donation of six TV sets each year for the next three years, that will be used to educate the public about disease prevention and how to stay healthier for longer. This year, three of the TV sets will be installed at Addington, while the remaining three will go to King Edward VIII Hospital. During the handing over of the first batch of TV sets at Addington on Friday,  Dhlomo thanked the association, and said its noble gesture affirms the Department’s good relationship with its mother body, the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO).

Dhlomo said he had been informed by acting Head of Department Dr Musa Gumede that the TV sets will not only be used for entertainment, but also to broadcast informative audio-visual health programmes, with sub-titles, that will be loaded on USB. It will also feature material from the Department’s community engagement programmes.

“It’s very important for us because we struggle to reach the public with health awareness at times. We are pleased that these TV sets will enable to us to engage the public with our health literacy programmes. We thank this association for the support, and wish that other people will also consider making such donations. ”

Acting Head of Department Dr Musa Gumede also thanked the association, and said that the taxi association’s act of kindness goes to show that there’s much more to the taxi industry than how it is perceived. “I have worked with them on numerous occasions. Whenever there’s a clarion call, they are always able to respond positively. I hope that what has been done here will receive wide media coverage so that everyone understands that it’s not only the bad that comes out of the taxi industry. ”

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Mr Yusuf Khalifa, chairperson of the taxi association, said:

“We sat and decided to spread the spirit of Christmas at the hospitals. Each time during the Christmas holidays, we try to do something special that will be of benefit to other people. As the taxi industry, we have done a lot to change the stigma (of violence) that we tend to be associated with.  It’s just that it rarely ever makes headlines. But the industry has changed. Every year there are many projects that we get involved in. They are too many to mention. We would like to encourage the media to show people what we are involved in, so that we can encourage other associations to emulate us. There are many other bigger associations that we would love to see following in our footsteps.”