South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in Tshwane spread the message of love associated with Valentine’s Day on Friday at the Bosman Taxi Rank.
This is in line with its broader mission called Hlokomela Campaign, which entails road safety.
The message was spread via handing out goodies like flowers and chocolates to taxi drivers and passengers.
“I am very happy to have received these Valentine’s goodies from SANTACO so early in the morning and though I am used to getting gifts from my loved ones every year, I thought today I was not going to get anything from my loved ones so SANTACO’S gifts today have come as a pleasant surprise,” said passenger Caroline Chikuvo of Mamelodi East.
Isaac Teffo thanked SANTACO for the Valentine’s Day goodies and pointed out that it is usually men who hand out gifts to women on Valentine’s Day and that he was happy that for a change he as a man was getting Valentine’s Day gifts from a woman.
“I feel very happy to have received chocolates and flowers from SANTACO and this means that my journey will be enjoyable and that even the place I am visiting will be enjoyable as well,” said Esther Ngoepe who was travelling by taxi to Pietersburg.
“Love is not only in the bedroom; love also means one must love one’s neighbour, one’s commuters and colleagues, so as SANTACO in Tshwane we just felt that we must do some commuter outreach by showing our commuters that we really care about them and we are showing our appreciation to them by sharing chocolates and sone flowers as well on this Valentine’s Day,” said SANTACO Tshwane Spokesperson McDonald Makata.
He added that as SANTACO they would like their passengers to proudly know that the taxi industry cares about them and that their love lives matter to them as the taxi industry.
SANTACO National Secretary General Daki Qumbu told Tshwane Talks that similar Valentine’s Day campaigns will be there in the future and that though these campaigns have there in the past, they were conducted at a smaller scale as compared to this year.
“What we seek to achieve with this Valentine’s Day campaign is a closer relationship with our passengers and drivers as well, because our drivers are the face of the organisation and we must make sure that they are well-looked- after and that they also obey the rules of the road for the sake of the safety of our people,” said Qumbu.
“We live because of the passengers; they are our bosses and through the Hlokomela Campaign we ensure their safety,” he said.
“We will visit all the taxi ranks as that is where our passengers are and even SANTACO’S president will visit the taxi ranks to talk nicely with our drivers as well as our passengers as part of this campaign,” he said.