Under the leadership of the minibus taxi industry, SA Taxi, South Africa’s only independent financer of minibus taxis will mount a campaign aimed at increasing awareness of health and safety among taxi operators, drivers, and commuters. The campaign is being held in conjunction with the office of the Deputy President and a broad range of other public and private sector industry stakeholders.
On 27th November 2015, from 10:00 to 12:00, representatives of the various stakeholders will distribute health and road safety awareness pamphlets to minibus drivers and their commuters at the Walmansdal off-ramp on the N1.
The northbound lanes on the N1 at that point carry high volumes of minibus taxi traffic, enabling the campaign to make a significant impact on large numbers of people in a short period of time.
The objective for all contributing organisations is to help drivers and commuters understand the risks posed to their health by lifestyle factors as well as the contribution they can make to public road safety. Among the lifestyle considerations covered in the pamphlets, conditions such as high blood and diabetes, which impact vision, are highlighted.
The Walmansdal off-ramp campaign follows a health and lifestyle focused project undertaken by a similar group of industry stakeholders in KwaZulu-Natal in October and takes advantage of the industry’s unmatched reach into communities around the country. The minibus taxi industry is the single largest provider of land-based public transport, exceeding the number of passengers carried by all other forms of road transport combined. Some 19 million people use the industry to get to and from work on a daily basis and to maintain their friend and family connections in social circumstances.
This positions the industry to be an effective and credible conduit of empowering information for the South African community at large. It also positions the industry to be a rallying point around which all parties interested in issues such as public health and safety can collaborate and contribute to public welfare.
The large number of stakeholders contributing to the Walmansdal off-ramp campaign indicates the strategic importance to the country of improving community health and public road safety.
Stakeholders include: National Department of Transport; National Department of Health; South African National Aids Council (SANAC); Gauteng Provincial Legislature Portfolio Committee on Roads and Transport; Gauteng Provincial Health Department; Toyota SA; South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO); National Taxi Alliance NTA); Law Enforcement; Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC); International Labour Organisation (ILO) & United Nations (UN); Right Play Services; South African Business Coalition on Health and Aids (SABCOHA); Center of Communication Impact of South Africa (CCISA); World Health Organisation (WHO); Taxi Choice
