KZN Department of Health – Santaco partnership: Crucial Coronavirus prevention messages to reach up to 14 million commuters in 50 000 taxis each day
No fewer than 14 million KZN people each day will now have the benefit of consuming crucial, life-saving messages about how to prevent getting infected with Coronavirus – or what to do if they suspect they have its symptoms.
This is thanks to a ground-breaking partnership between the KZN Department of Health and the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) which was sealed in Durban today.
During a meeting between KZN Health MEC Ms Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu and representatives of SANTACO this afternoon, an agreement was reached which paves the way for the Department to engage in mass awareness programmes in taxi ranks, and also seek ways to make hand sanitizers available in every taxi rank.
The partnership will also see some of SANTACO’s more than 50 000 minibus taxis being branded with messages outlining everything there is to know about Coronavirus – from what the disease is to how it can be prevented, what its symptoms are, and what people need to do if they exhibit these symptoms.
MEC Simelane-Zulu, who was joined in the meeting by Transport MEC Mr Bheki Ntuli, described the partnership as a major boost in the fight against Coronavirus.
“We identified the taxi industry as one of the stakeholders that we needed to speak to and have a partnership with. Because they are people who already had a vision of working with government, they were very willing to assist in the fight against Coronavirus. They had already started on their own, before Government could even engage them, to make sure that they put measures within their vehicles so that their vehicles can be safe.
“The taxi industry, just like the Department of Health, serves the majority of the population in the province and country. The taxi industry’s willingness to work with us is heartening, because it means together we will be able to deal with this virus.
“But it also proves that stakeholder engagement is always extremely necessary and important. Government is never going to be able to stop the spread of this virus on its own. The engagement went very well, and we’ve agreed on programmes that we are going to engage in together at a district level, and in the different taxi ranks and the different gatherings that they as an industry are exposed to. I’m happy with the engagement, and we look forward to working together.”
Notably, the MEC and SANTACO also agreed to collaborate on other health awareness exercises, mainly targeting men, who are known for their reluctance to visit healthcare facilities until it is too late.
“For that, there’s no better place to start than with the taxi industry,” said MEC Simelane-Zulu.
Mr Bhoyi Zondi, provincial chairperson of SANTACO, welcomed the partnership with the Department, emphasising that the taxi industry would not be seeking to profiteer from the situation.
“We agreed that as the taxi industry we are trying to assist commuters. We don’t see the need to seek to profit from that. We agreed that these messages will be placed in our vehicles. In this province, we have more than 50 000 vehicles, transporting at least 14 million people every day. That is why government saw it fit to contact us because of these 14 million people. We will also go to every taxi rank in KZN creating awareness, and dispense hand sanitizers and relevant messages... working hand in hand with the Department.”
Among other stakeholders that the Department will be engaging with are traditional health practitioners, organised labour, and private healthcare service providers.
