Public transport commuters in South Africa raise safety concerns

Using a public means of transport in South Africa in these times of coronavirus is no easy task.

In addition to waiting for a ride, commuters are forced to comply with hygiene measures. These measures are necessary, but do not help operators in the sector or the passengers.

“It’s hard, because even when we are standing by the entrance sanitizing people, some people say ‘no we don’t want it’, and they just go past. It’s really difficult working under this pandemic. I also take public transport, and sometimes inside the taxi there is someone not wearing a mask”, an Administrator at Randburg Taxi Rank, Joyce Kubeka said.

This local hairdresser finds having to ride in a taxi full of people quite scary during this time.

“It’s scary because we are now in a taxi, it’s a full taxi, and you never know which person you sitting next to. And you don’t know their health and where they have been. So it’s actually, not really hard but scary”, Abigail said.

For the first time in almost three months, public transport operators in South Africa have been allowed to fill up with passengers again.

It’s one more step towards a return to normalcy after several weeks of confinement.