South Africa won praise for its response to the coronavirus outbreak, including curfews and an alcohol ban. But when it comes to minibus taxis, the unregulated vehicles shuttling people from home to workplace, economic and political realities mean it's better to fill seats and hope for the best.
When a lockdown began in March, many of the Toyota Quantums flouted an initial instruction to run at 70% capacity. Now, even as South Africans are banned from visiting family and social distancing is enforced in restaurants, taxis are allowed to be crammed full as long as they keep their windows partially open.
The change shows the influence of an industry that 40% of South Africans rely on each day. Before the capacity ruling was relaxed, taxi associations rejected government aid as insufficient and threatened to almost triple prices in Gauteng, the country's commercial hub. On June 22, drivers struck, blockading roads.
Coronavirus: Global Covid-19 infections have hit 95 million confirmed, with the death toll reaching 2.03 million. In South Africa, there have been 12,267 new cases, taking the total reported to 1,337,926. Deaths have reached 37,105 (a daily increase of 254), while recoveries have climbed to 1,098,441, leaving the country with a balance of 202,380 active cases.
Load shedding: Stage 2 load shedding resumes on Monday from 05h00, with no indication of an end time.
Expunged: Government plans to put a process in place to expunge criminal records as a result of breaking South Africa’s Covid-19 laws – but it has no intention to do it any time soon, and especially not during the current second wave. The justice department said that South Africans need a proper deterrent to convince them to obey the laws, and just paying a fine isn’t going to cut it. Criminal records attained from breaking lockdown laws persist for 10 years, and prevent you from getting a job and travelling to some countries
Bad banks: Evidence has been submitted in an ongoing court battle against major SA banks, showing how they auction off repossessed properties for a fraction of their market values. A sample of 12,000 properties sold at auction revealed that most were sold at between 50%-60% of their market value, while in the worst cases, some were sold at 17% of their value. Some sold for just 1%. The class action suit is seeking to recoup billions of rands lost to this practice. The banks have yet to file a response.
