Santaco calls for women’s safety to be prioritised in taxi industry

Taxi organisation, South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) says women’s safety must become a standard part of how the taxi industry operates , rather than something addressed only through campaigns.

This came at the Santaco Women National Safe Mobility and Empowerment Summit held in Kempton Park, where scores of women in the transport industry gathered .

Santaco’s women advisor and legal advisor, Nobuhle Mazolo, says taxi ranks must provide basic safety measures, including adequate lighting and safe toilets, to all women who use public transport.

“But when we talk safety, we are saying a woman should sit in a taxi, although it’s squeezed 4 by 4, that squeeze should not make her uncomfortable.

A man should not have a hand on her or even touch her inappropriately.

So, when we talk safety, we talk from a commuter’s perspective, farmworkers, from the ladies selling, and to say that no one has got to steal from them at any given time.

So, we are really talking about safety from all perspectives,” says Mazolo.