Five ways Fikile Mbalula plans to keep public transport clean amid Covid-19

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula says random screening measures will be applied at taxi ranks and train stations, with taxis expected to be sanitised.

Mbalula made the announcement on Monday at a department briefing, where he tabled plans to halt the Covid-19 spread.

The briefing comes after One South Africa (Osa) leader Mmusi Maimane asked Mbalula how his department would ensure commuters' safety during the pandemic.

“As you are aware, Bree taxi rank in Johannesburg, for example, will have hundreds of people in the peak traffic periods. The same is true of the train stations and the trains,” said Maimane.

"The taxi industry transports more than 16 million people and represents a critical sector, which must be at the forefront of robust interventions and awareness to manage the risks,” said Mbalula.

“We will implement an aggressive information drive to create awareness and promote preventive measures. Taxi and bus operators must become ambassadors whose task it is to disseminate information.”

Mbalula shared a five-point plan to fight the pandemic.

It includes:

• Heightened awareness and educational campaigns targeted at commuters.
• Sanitation of surfaces in trains, buses and taxis after every trip and, where applicable, each e-hailing passenger journey.
• Provision of hand sanitisers at key points and encouraging public transport operators to provide sanitisers to commuters.
• Regular intensive cleaning and sanitisation of major stations and key points of embarkation and commuter handling facilities.
• Practical screening facilities that will target train stations, such as Park Station, Durban Station, Cape Town Station, Port Elizabeth Station, Bloemfontein Station and Pretoria Station.