According to the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco), the go-ahead has been given by the Transport Department to carry 10 passengers per taxi for the remainder of the national shutdown.
The organisation had reportedly threatened a national strike over the regulations announced by government.
Drivers were previously only allowed to carry seven passengers per trip, between 5am and 9am and again from 4pm. Taxi operators also had to provide hand sanitisers for passengers.
Santaco has now allegedly called off its planned strike after talks with government.
The amended arrangement now allows drivers to load up to 10 people per trip, which means only five seats in the taxi will be empty.
While this means drivers will be able to make a profit, it will make social distancing harder for commuters.
Santaco’s Thabisho Molelekwa said: “We were given the option to go full capacity provided that there are sanitisers and masks in the vehicles. The reason why we rejected that offer is because it goes against the policy of social distancing.”
The agreement also allows for taxis to operate for 9 hours per day.
