The South African National Taxi Council was proud to display state-of-the-art sanitisation equipment at the Randburg Taxi Rank on 11 May.
Taxi rank customers can be reassured that from the very minute they enter the rank, their hygiene is taken care of from top to toe.
Santaco Gauteng chairman Buti Mkonza said that this equipment makes sanitisation very easy. “We have made sure that all of our customers and drivers remain safe during this outbreak. It will help to sanitise everything including your luggage,” said Mkonza.
Users will enter a booth that is equipped with a tank of non-alcohol based disinfectant. A sensor then triggers a soft spray of mist that is capable of sanitising the entire body.
“All customers, staff and taxi drivers will have to walk through this every time they enter the rank. Our taxi ranks carry a huge number of people every day, from home to places of work and beyond. The safety of our customers, as well as the entire nation is of utmost importance. We are always taking steps to ensure that all our customers remain safe, especially during this coronavirus outbreak,” said Mkonza.
Ranks like the Randburg Taxi Rank are dubbed ‘interchange ranks’, as they carry people from a wider field than a smaller taxi rank, connecting passengers to other interchange ranks. Mkonza continued, “That is why equipment like this is important at these interchange ranks, if we can stop the virus here, then it won’t spread so easily.”
“We would like to roll out these booths at all major taxi ranks throughout Gauteng. Most recently, we installed booths at the Baragwanath Taxi Rank.”
Besides the booths, rank staff are on hand to ensure that all passengers and drivers are wearing masks and have had their hands sprayed with hand sanitiser. “We have also taken measures to educate passengers and drivers to make sure they know the dangers of this virus and how to prevent it,” said Mkonza.
Abner Mariri of the Mashaile Group, who work with Gauteng taxi ranks, added that he would like to thank the leadership of Santaco for the initiative. Mariri said, “The majority of our people use taxi ranks, and to be able to flatten the curve you need to educate the community to take measures put in place by our government seriously. On Thursday, we disinfected the entire taxi rank, disinfecting over 600 taxis. The enormity of the work that has been done is amazing, and this work needs to continue.”
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