October is a special period for South Africans as we observe both Transport Month, an important time in the calendar for taxi operators – which also coincides with the World Mental Health Awareness Month.
In this edition, TaxiWorld pays special focus on the importance of the two occasions (Transport Month and the World Mental Health Awareness campaigns).
We are specifically drawn on the latter in line with this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month theme ‘Surviving and Thriving’.
This theme speaks also to the importance of highlighting the prevalence of mental health problems within the taxi industry.
Taxi drivers in particular are often labelled as unruly, violent, and dangerous characters when confronted with a difficult situation. The programme should focus on helping taxi operators and their customers to better understand their mental health, as well as dismantle the stigma that prevents them from seeking help when it is needed most.
Taxi operators spend long hours on the road, not to mention the stress of daily life, low pay and poor diet can take a huge toll on a taxi driver’s mental health, resulting in rage (road rage) or unreasonable behaviour on the road.
This anger can result either in fatal physical fights with passengers, at times domestic violence and in worse cases suicide as an outlet of dealing with mental health challenges.
Many taxi operators have not bothered to dig deep to fully understand the underlying causes of their aggressive behaviours, and ultimately seek understanding as to why that is happening. There’s no doubt that doing so – seeking help – can help throngs of drivers get help managing stress, anxiety or depression, and potentially prevent some of the industry’s common fatalities.
We hope shining a spotlight on the mental wellness of taxi drivers is going to galvanise an ongoing support from all stakeholders to take the necessary action as that can have a direct bearing to the industry’s productivity and personal wellbeing of not only both taxi drivers and owners, but on their family life as a whole.
