Massive EC campaign to contain coronavirus on public transport

The Eastern Cape government is pulling out all the stops to prevent any potential spread of the coronavirus among the hundreds of thousands of daily commuters reliant on public transport.

A mass meet with hundreds of taxi bosses, bus owners and drivers will be held in East London on Thursday. They will be given intense training on how to curb the virus in their industry.  

The meeting is organised by the provincial transport, safety and liaison department, as well as the health department.

Among the proposed measures to be discussed is subsidising hand sanitisers and masks for taxi operators and passengers.

Confirming the meeting on Tuesday, transport department spokesperson  Unathi Binqose said a large number of law enforcement officers would  be trained on hygiene and how to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Training of public transport operators will be focused on small bus operators as well as the taxi industry,”  Binqose said.

But the department has no intention of relenting on road safety measures, particularly ahead of the upcoming Easter weekend.

Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said: “We want to assure our people that we will not negate road safety in our plans even in the midst of this pandemic. Disposable breathalysers will be used in the province to nab drunk drivers who may end up killing even more people on our roads than this coronavirus may.

“We are busy capacitating our law enforcement officers and public transport operators so that in executing their duties, they do not endanger themselves [by being exposed to] this virus,” she said.

Taxi and bus bosses who spoke to DispatchLIVE on Tuesday said the provincial government would have to provide them “in bulk” with hand sanitisers, surgical masks and other preventive material for their drivers and passengers.

On Monday, water and sanitation minister Linidiwe Sisulu said her department would provide water tanks in public spaces and sanitisers at taxi ranks and train and bus stations.

Santaco Eastern Cape chair Lungiswa Mabija said: “We have met with the MEC and it’s been decided that as soon as the training programme is complete on Thursday, we’re going to go to the taxi ranks in droves and pass on this information to the drivers and passengers.”

Mabija said the council would propose hand sanitisers for each taxi and possibly surgical masks for each passenger.

“This thing is big, and we have to be on top of it and at the forefront of it,” she said.

Mabija said Santaco Eastern Cape would also meet on Wednesday to discuss what could be done in the industry.

Taxi bosses and drivers were already communicating via WhatsApp groups, and were advising one another to have their windows open at all times.

“This is uncharted territory for all of us. We will try to relay the message as effectively as possible.

“We have no problem with the measures put in place; we want to help where we can and spread the awareness in the taxis. We’re going to go to all the taxi ranks and pass on the message,” she said.

She warned that long-distance taxis coming into the province would need to be scrutinised for Covid-19.

Eastern Cape Small Bus Operators’ Council president Simlindile Hintsa confirmed his organisation had been invited to attend the planned training meeting.

The council represents owners and drivers of more than 130 buses, servicing most parts of the province.

Hintsa said: “We want our drivers and conductors to have hand sanitisers and sprays on their buses. If passengers also have to get these, it will be expensive, but it’s something that we are going to have to do.”

Prasa regional spokesperson  Mimi Katsio said on Tuesday they were still waiting for a “directive” from their bosses on how to deal with preventive measures on their trains.