Protective gear and sanitiser on taxis 'a waste of resources'

The health department in the Eastern Cape is not providing sanitisers, surgical gloves, masks and spray at taxi ranks because it regards this as a “waste of resources”, a stance taxi and bus operators have described as extremely disappointing.

The operators, in turn, rejected a proposal by the  health department that  taxis travel with half the seats empty, saying this could only happen if they were reimbursed for the loss of income.

The taxi and bus operators met with officials from the provincial health and transport departments on Thursday to discuss ways to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the Eastern Cape.

Taxi operators said they had thought they were being invited to the meeting to hear about being provided with the safety gear to protect themselves and their passengers but were amazed to be taught lessons on how to clean their hands.

At the meeting, the taxi and bus operators were told health practitioners, accompanied by traffic officials, would conduct roadblocks across the province, with special focus on the province's major entry points and border corridors with neighbouring provinces, including Lesotho.

These roadblocks were set to intensify over the weekend as the holiday and Easter traffic was expected to pick up.

At the roadblocks passengers and drivers will be tested for the coronavirus.

Doctor Nozipho Jaxa, senior manager for clinical training, told the transport operators “providing sanitisers, gloves and spraying taxi ranks will be a waste of the resource”.

“Let's keep the few resources that we have until such a point where we have a case. Then we can utilise the resources,” said Jaxa.

She said South Africans had been guilty of “waste” when they emptied shelves, buying masks and sanitisers, because those had not been scientifically proven effective against the virus.

“We don't have the masks,” said Jaxa.

She urged parents with children attending school in some of the country’s major cities to let their children stay home if it was not essential that they travel.

When she said bus and taxi drivers should keep free a seat between passengers, the operators refused, saying they could only do this when there was assurance they will be reimbursed for those empty seats.

Santaco provincial chairperson Lungiswa Mabija said it was disappointing that the transport and health departments were not willing to provide them with protective equipment.

She said operators “don't want money from the government but the equipment to protect themselves”.

“We are ready to protect ourselves and the passengers. Let us not save money at the expense of people's lives,” said Mabija.

Eastern Cape Bus Council chairperson Manelisi Sguqa, said: “We are willing to help with combating the spread of the virus, but government must come on board and provide us with sanitisers and gloves.”

He said other provinces had been provided with such equipment.

“This is really a disaster, it is even worse for some of us who transport people from the rural areas,” said Sguqa.

Bhelu Melane, the director of operating licences and permits, said the reason the equipment would not be provided was because the disaster was still at an awareness stage.

He said for now it was the responsibility of an individual to protect themselves because “demand is too high compared to the supply”.

“The department is in the process of procuring these resources. I am not promising anything but the department is busy finding a solution,” he said.