Local taxi associations reap the rewards of hard work

The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) and Uthukela Regional Taxi Council hosted an awards ceremony on May 16.

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The Estcourt Town Hall was packed to capacity as the councils rewarded various taxi associations for their achievements in the industry, and recognised innovation and outstanding service.

But it did not end there; the councils used the opportunity to touch base with the association, informing them of things such as taxi tracking.

“This will come in handy in cases of driver abuse, hijackings or stolen taxis, as well as to monitor and make sure that taxis operate in their authorised time, area and route,” told Altrack manager Sizwe Nxumalo.

Estcourt and District Owners Taxi Association chairperson Vusi Vivian Cele gave feedback on ‘Operation Hlokomela’, which translates to “your safety is our concern”.

“Road accidents have been reduced greatly and we will continue conducting awareness campaigns not just for taxi drivers, but also car wash operators, passengers and vendors in order to continue progressing. As vendors, if you have a permit to sell apples, then sell apples and do not get caught selling homemade beer, which will result in drunken taxi drivers on our roads,” said Mr Cele.

To conclude his speech, he said, “The mobile clinic stationed at the Estcourt Taxi Rank Facility has given taxi drivers and vendors a chance to have health checks, as they leave home early and get back late, not having the opportunity to visit a clinic in their area.”

Then for the much-anticipated moment… The awards received on February 9 at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban were distributed to the relevant people and taxi associations.

uThukela District Municipality Deputy Mayor Nombali Sibiya was present to help hand out the awards. She urged taxi rank users to utilise bins to ensure cleanliness of the area.

Out of nine associations within the region, the Weenen and District Taxi Association won the award for being the second cleanest taxi rank – one of many outstanding accomplishments. The Estcourt rank also received an award for outstanding accomplishments.

A certificate of appreciation was given to Estcourt Hospital for their commitment and contribution to health programmes.

The team leader from Estcourt Provincial Hospital’s Primary Health Care (PHC) Department Sister Mukhwena said, “We are sent by the Department of Health to take High Transmission Area (HTA) services to the people. That is how we identified taxi drivers and vendors, and began to take the mobile clinic to the taxi rank.”

The services offered include family planning and screening for blood pressure, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, as well as the treatment thereof.”

Sister Mukhwena urged people to make use of the services to ensure they live a healthy lifestyle.
Mrs JB Ntuli, the PHC manager, beamed with pride.

“The mobile clinic team that visits the rank every Thursday has made me very proud. I wish to congratulate them on their efforts. They have shown excellent customer service and this has been recognised at provincial level.”

Another certificate of appreciation was handed to uThukela District for their commitment and contribution to infrastructure.

Certificates were handed out to those who participated in the Customer Care course, and those who passed the cost-free learner’s licence programme received their learner’s licences. The awards function was capped off with a tasty lunch served to all the attendees.

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