City stipulates guidelines for mask wearing at customer service centres

ETHEKWINI Municipality has urged the public to note that only certain types of masks can be worn at customer centres, such as the South Durban Basin Sizakala Centre on 398, Bluff Road.

These include surgical, dust, three-ply cloth and N95 masks. Buffs, neck gaiters, bandanas, cloth masks with vents and N95 masks with vents are not allowed. This decision was taken to ensure the safety of staff and the public during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Head of the Sizakala Centres Unit, Mavuso Tshabalala said: “Only certain types of face masks are allowed to be worn by the public at our centres. This is in line with Version 06 of Covid Guidelines as approved by the Executive Management Committee on 19 October 2020. These guidelines are informed by the national guidelines. We have placed signs outlining which masks are acceptable at all our centres.”

He said guidelines were drawn from the Department of Employment and Labour’s report ‘Consolidated Direction on Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Measures’. The report states that an employer has the responsibility to create an environment that is safe for their staff. This includes measures to protect workers from being exposed to the virus through their interaction with the public and vice versa.

The municipality has adopted the revised guidelines by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition that is aimed at providing a set of recommendations for the South African clothing and textile industry when making masks for use by the general public.

These guidelines specify that masks with breathing valves and vents on cloth masks and neck buffs should not be worn as a preventative method as they offer little or no support in preventing respiratory droplets.

Members of the public are requested to comply by wearing suitable masks when visiting Sizakala Customer Service Centres.