Commuters urged to wear masks and observe social distancing

WHILE the country continues its fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA) has urged public transport commuters to also play their part and comply with Covid-19 regulations by maintaining social distancing and wearing a mask at all times.

ALSO READ: Intra-provincial travel for leisure now allowed

ETA senior manager, Babalwa Nyoka, said while the municipality has interventions in place to curb the spread of Covid-19, each commuter is expected to have a cloth mask on before boarding a bus or any other mode of public transport.

Nyoka said ETA is in the process of placing educational posters at public transport facilities and are in talks with operators to put up posters inside their vehicles.

“At this point, we are encouraging that passengers without masks should not board a public transport vehicle,” he said.

In an effort to improve hygiene, Nyoka said the municipality ensures public transport ranking facilities are deep cleaned regularly and sanitisers are provided within City buses.

He said the taxi industry was also requested to provide hand sanitisers for commuters.

“All parties must take care to ensure they play their role to prevent the virus from spreading. There has been a plea from operators for government to support them with the provision of personal protective equipment.

“As such, eThekwini Municipality in partnership with the National Department of Transport, is exploring ways where that can be achieved,” he said.

Nyoka added that municipal buses complied with the loading capacity issued by the Transport Department.

“In addition there are monitors and inspectors who do random checks while other law enforcement agencies also ensure compliance,” said Nyoka.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).

Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.