Cape town - Taxi drivers say the taxi industry is barely surviving the brunt of the third wave, as schools remain closed, unemployment surges and a large portion of passengers are now working from home
Taxi driver, Fay-yaaz Ganief said the people hit the hardest within the taxi industry were drivers.
Ganief said most drivers worked for taxi bosses and owners during the week, with only one or two days to make money for themselves. On weekends people scarcely travelled, as most places were closed and drivers barely made enough to get by, and did not meet their weekly targets.
“The third wave hit us very badly. A lot of people no longer work and no longer need to get to work every day. A lot of people fear taking taxis and will resort to other means of transport because we are forced to overload to full capacity,” he said.
Ganief said while taxi bosses may benefit from aid, drivers did not receive any form of aid or assistance.
A taxi driver from Khayelitsha, Ayakha Nkwenkwana, said the third wave had affected the livelihood of taxi drivers more severely than the first and second. He explained that from taxi drivers usually being able to carry seven to eight loads a day, and making roughly R2 400, they were now able to load four or five, reaching just over R1 000, if not less.
Phelibhongo Sonjica, a taxi driver working in Eersterivier, said they were pleading with the government to take their industry into consideration. He explained the Covid-19 regulations negatively affected their livelihood and means of generating an income.
Sonjica explained that in the last year, lockdown restrictions had not prevented the spread of the virus, it had merely robbed the unskilled sector of a basic salary. He described the Covid-19 regulations as inhumane and cruel to those who worked hand-to-mouth.
Weekend Argus