Taxis hotspots of infection

CAPACITY: TAXIS BECOMING HOTSPOTS OF INFECTION

Drivers battling to make a living despite being allowed 100% capacity.

You don’t need to worry about full taxis accelerating the spread of Covid-19, rather worry about the risk of hunger spreading through families who depend on this industry.

Taxi drivers at the Westgate taxi rank told The Citizen that despite the relaxation of restrictions under Level 3 lockdown, their “Quantums” are barely full more than three times a day and hunger is always a bad day away.

In Roodepoort, Bosmont Taxi Association drivers say they are not filling their vehicles to capacity because business is still slow, despite schools being open.

Passengers are unwilling to wait hours for vehicles to fill up before each trip.

Despite the fervent fight to get permission to allow taxis to fill to 100% capacity, getting 15 passengers is no longer a given.

“It is 1.30pm and this is the first load I am about to take,” says Tiyane Maluleke, 46, a driver on the Westgate-Krugersdorp route.

“We are not tired at the end of the day because there are virtually no trips.

“We are always at home nowadays – our wives must be happy,” he joked.

“To tell the truth, there is no money because people are no longer going to work.

“All we are doing is for survival.”

Drivers at this rank say it’s unfair that, despite being workers like “everybody else”, working long hours for little pay, government is not giving them the same protection from the financial effects of this pandemic.

“I have five children and a wife, they all depend on me. I don’t want my children to end up turning to nyaope and other things because of hunger,” said Maluleke.

But some drivers warn that poor communities, where the Covid-19 pandemic is relatively under control, could be the new hotspots in a few weeks.

According to the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa), this was the risk posed by government’s decision to allow local taxis to operate at full capacity, rather than the previous 70% cap. The decision came following immense pressure from the industry.

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) promised last weekend to bear the burden of ensuring all taxis in the informal industry complied with safety protocols, including ensuring sufficient ventilation inside the vehicles.

But in cold weather, any number of Toyota Quantums and similar-make taxis with a capacity of 15 passengers could be observed on Johannesburg roads with the windows fully closed.

It was up to Santaco members to convince passengers that it was better to bear the cold than risk spreading or contracting the virus.

Denosa secretary-general Cassim Lekhoati said this was concerning, especially for healthcare workers, who were exposed to patients and fellow commuters in large volumes daily.

He said allowing taxis, even for short trips, to be filled to capacity while the question of ventilation was uncertain, was irresponsible.

“I have observed with concern ... that even though they said they will keep windows open, these taxis don’t because it is cold,” said Lekhoati. “It is for the same reason that it was correct to not allow full capacity on the trains.

“These communities at first were very safe, but now we are going to see an explosion of new cases over the next few weeks.”

A recent report by the national Compensation Fund showed that women, particularly nurses, were the workers most affected by Covid-19.

Whether they were contracting the disease at work or in transit, their exposure to poorer communities in large numbers made them significant potential carriers, Lekhoati said.

Santaco described the Congress of South African Trade Unions’ (Cosatu) threat to go on strike over this issue as “unfortunate”.

They believed Cosatu members did not stand up for them when government enforced restrictions on their operations.

The industry has been accused of holding the country to ransom in that government allowed certain freedoms, despite the risks.

According to Santaco, the decision to allow taxis to be filled was a compromise made between government and the body.

This after robust and often combative engagements between the industry body and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, who failed to meet several demands but appeared to have caved on this one.

“Santaco accepted the decision by government ... mainly because it was a mutual compromise between the parties,” said Santaco President Phillip Taaibosch.

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We are going to see an explosion of new cases over the next few weeks