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- All banks must ensure that their ATMs are equipped with hand sanitizers and that social distancing protocols are followed.
- It is estimated that 30,000 ATMs will need to be equipped to comply with the new alert level 3 regulations.
- Banks that do not comply with the new laws will be subject to fines.
- For more stories, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
All banks in South Africa will need to ensure their ATMs are equipped with hand sanitizers, in accordance with the new Alert Level 3 lockdown laws released on Monday, January 11. Banks are also tasked with implementing strict social distancing protocols at all ATMs.
South Africa’s fight against a second wave of coronavirus infections has led the government to adjust the regulations defined by the Disaster Management Act. The most recent revision, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa during a national address Monday night, closed South Africa’s land borders, changed curfew hours and implemented new regulation for all financial institutions.
A new mandatory protocol, which places the responsibility of hand sanitizing and social distancing at ATMs on the shoulders of all South African banks, is now part of alert level 3 regulations.
Banks should “ensure that all automatic teller machines (ATMs) have hand sanitizers for public use” and “take steps to ensure that people queuing at the ATM keep a distance of one and a half meters from each other.” .
Concerns around the unregulated use of ATMs, which, due to constant physical contact with the machine’s keyboard and limited social distancing from those waiting in line, were addressed by the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC ) on Tuesday.
“We were struck by the fact that people are queuing at ATMs, but there is no sanitation there,” explained the Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.
“So the regulation now is that every bank or financial institution that has an ATM must ensure that there are disinfectants in the ATM. This is very important because, otherwise, the ATMs could become super spreaders ”.
Dlamini Zuma added that the banks were “no different” from other institutions and would be subject to the same penalties for failing to comply with the new regulations. These penalties include fines or imprisonment not to exceed six months.
According to Capitec, there are more than 30,000 ATMs in South Africa’s major banks.
Most banks have consistently urged account holders to sanitize their hands before and after using ATMs, but apart from machines within branches, these sanitizing facilities have not been mandatory and the responsibility rests with the public.
The same issues apply to social distancing. While queues are ordered to form at least two meters behind the ATM, as a means of protecting customers from fraud, banks have struggled to enforce social distancing protocols at public ATMs.
(Compiled by Luke Daniel)
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