Umthetho uthi: commuting stories of minibus taxi commuters and taxi drivers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Durban, South Africa

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak in late 2019 illustrated how biological facts and social processes often intersect to account for differential epidemiological patterns of disease outbreaks. In South Africa, the legacy of apartheid, which facilitated separate development, intersected with structural inequalities to shape the spread of the outbreak. In this study, I explore the stories of minibus taxi drivers and commuters in Mpumalanga Township, Durban, South Africa, about commuting during the COVID 19 pandemic. Informal minibus taxis are the most popular mode of public transportation in South Africa, as they are responsible for up to 70% of daily commutes. However, minibus taxis are usually overcrowded, lack adequate ventilation, and are situated in areas that lack the most basic sanitation facilities; thus making them “hotspots” for the transmission of airborne diseases such as the novel coronavirus. Minibus taxis, due to the essential role they play in the lives of the majority of black urban South Africans, cannot be completely shut down during a pandemic. Using the theoretical framework of structural violence, I argue that the everyday lived experiences of taxi drivers and commuters make them vulnerable to contracting an airborne disease such as COVID-19, especially because they are unable to avoid high-risk situations such as commuting. Additionally, the government’s attempts to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak further deepened the precarity of those who generate an income from the informal sector, including the minibus taxi industry. This structural violence to which my interlocutors are exposed is born out the deep inequality that characterises the larger South African economy. I argue that structural violence is not merely a matter of social inequality; it is that inequality leads to increased risk. The overall argument of this dissertation is that existing social, political, and economic factors intersected with the COVID-19 pandemic to exacerbate the already existing precarity of those who operate and use minibus taxis. I was able to draw on how the intersection of minibus taxi operations, the working conditions of taxi drivers, minibus taxi ownership, funding, and the government’s policies amplified this precarity during a health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic. I therefore call for the improvement of the minibus taxi industry as a matter of social equity. This will require the extension of public transport subsidies to the minibus taxi industry. I further call for a review of the government’s funding model of the minibus taxi industry through the Taxi Recapitalisation Programme.