Transport and Public Works
- (a) What is the total number of (i) bus and (ii) minibus-taxi drivers who have tested positive for COVID-19 and (b) what measures has his Department taken to avert widespread infections of the virus in the transport industry;
- whether his Department has sanitised and disinfected taxi ranks since the start of the lockdown; if not, why not; if so, how many taxi ranks have been sanitised and/or disinfected?
- (a)(i) and (ii)
The Department of Health is responsible for screening and testing people in line with the relevant health strategies. This includes minibus and bus drivers. Therefore, this question must be posed to the Department of Health as the Department of Transport and Public Works does not hold any individual level detail with respect to screening and testing.
(b) The Department has devised and implemented a communication and awareness campaign which includes public transport specific posters, flyers, material for the insides of public transport vehicles, Frequently Asked Questions, communication material on how non-compliance can be reported and updated our website. This is in addition to the generic communication on COVID-19.
The Department has not only procured PPE equipment, but has also received PPE equipment from other parties and distributed it to the taxi industry. Tabulated hereunder are the details:
Sponsor | Product | Date | Litres |
Department of Transport and Public Works | Sanitiser | 31 March 2020 | 8520 |
Distell | Sanitiser | 8 April 2020 | 10000 |
Department of Transport | Sanitiser | 9 April 2020 | 3325 |
Department of Transport | Germatrol | 9 April 2020 | 1340 |
Department of Transport | Germatrol | 14 May 2020 | 1600 |
Department of Transport | Sanitiser | 27 May 2020 | 3400 |
Total | 28185 | ||
The Department has also developed a compliance application which is used at public transport interchanges. Public Transport Inspectors use this application to primarily monitor compliance with Covid-19 related legislation. Aspects such as sanitisation practices, capacity restrictions and social distancing are monitored daily and the information is accessible to City of Cape Town to address non- compliance.
In order to assist our frontline health workers, a Red Dot project was conceived and implemented. The project involves a partnership with the minibus taxi industry to provide health workers with transport from hospitals to their homes at the end of their evening shift.
2. Taxi ranks fall under the ownership of municipalities and as such they are responsible for cleaning and sanitising their respective taxi ranks. As far as the City of Cape Town is concerned, we can advise that they do clean and disinfect all their operational Taxi ranks in line with a schedule.
