Santaco’s coronavirus protocol to keep drivers and passengers safe

The taxi industry is taking big steps to protect its drivers and 16 million customers against the coronavirus.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) handed over a coronavirus protocol to taxi associations after a meeting held with Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula to plan how the pandemic would be contained and eliminated in the taxi industry. The handover took place on Tuesday at Johannesburg’s Wanderers Street taxi, rank.

According to Stats SA and the taxi industry, 65% of South African commuters – translating to about 16 million passengers – travel by taxi, the most popular mode of transport in the country. Up to 15 passengers sit in close proximity in a minibus when they make their way to their destinations. This makes this form of travel high-risk, as the virus is released in droplets when a carrier sneezes or coughs.

Santaco president Philip Taaibosch said the industry’s protocol was aimed at supporting the high-level prevention principles in terms of sanitation, good hygiene behaviour and social separation.

Explaining how the new protocols would come into operation, he said: “All ranks are to be kept clean and free from any contamination as high-pressure cleaning should be administrated daily with disinfected chemical spray, which should be sprayed twice a day. Sanitisers are to be applied and administrated to everyone entering or exiting a taxi rank, with this all entrances and exit points should be monitored.

• All taxis are to be cleaned daily and disinfected before and after every load using certified and approved chemicals.
• Door handles inside and outside a taxi would be disinfected before each trip.
• Passengers would be provided with sanitisers after all have paid their fares, thus ensuring contamination is eliminated.
• Taxi drivers and queue marshals are to advise all passengers to observe recommended hygiene behaviours.

Taaibosch said his council would engage with government regarding the budget for the sanitisers from the national disaster fund.

“All of the sanitiser containers are currently provided from Santaco, which will be available for each rank and should last for a week. We provide ranks with a sufficient one-litre sanitisers. Taxi rank managers are to contact their local taxi officers to order more sanitisers to refill containers,” Taaibosch said.

Taaibosch pleaded with taxi drivers not to discriminate against commuters who coughed or sneezed in taxis, as drivers were not health experts and had no expertise know if someone had Covid-19.

“Anyone who coughs and sneezes should not be kept from being allowed in. It is not everybody who coughs or sneezes who has Covid-19. As a taxi industry, we cannot claim to be health experts. Therefore we should refer passengers to experts.”

Commuters told The Citizen they felt relieved at the steps taken by the taxi industry.

However, taxi marshall Gideon Motshegoa said the action taken at the taxi ranks was great, but lamented the state of cleanliness and lack of running water in the toilets at the rank.

“Our toilets do not have running water as the pipes have been leaking for a while now,” he said. “This is unhygienic because even though we give our commuters hand sanitisers, they are unable to wash their hands in the one bathroom we have.”

There are currently more than 250,000 minibus taxis in South Africa, and more than 1,050 taxi ranks which each handles between 5,000 to 15,000 commuters a day.

Meanwhile, the e-hailing taxi company Bolt is encouraging its customers to switch to cashless payments for “extra safety”.

In a message on its app, it says its appeal is motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Due to coronavirus, we recommend you to switch to card payments, which decrease the risk of germs being transmitted, protecting yourself on the drives and close ones,” it says.

On the other hand, Samantha Fuller, head of Uber communications in sub-Saharan Africa, says the company is making use of a team which supports public health authorities in response to the epidemic. The team is sending out information and guidance to drivers and Uber Eats customers and delivery people.

According to Fuller, the accounts of drivers to have contracted or been exposed to the coronavirus would be suspended with immediate effect, while receiving financial assistance for up to 14 days while their account is on hold. The driver would be asked to self-isolate.

“We are working to provide our drivers with disinfectants to help them keep their cars clean. Our Uber Eats application allows customers to leave a delivery note based on the way they want their food to be delivered.”

All drivers are expected to follow the Uber Community Guidelines, which clearly prohibit discrimination. “We are always working to help keep everyone who uses Uber safe. We have a dedicated global team, guided by the advice of a consulting public health expert, working to respond in every market where we operate around the world. We remain in close contact with local public health authorities and will continue to follow their guidance to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.”