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The “new” luxurious Thohoyandou Taxi Rank near Eskom remains abandoned.

“New” Thohoyandou taxi rank a white elephant for a decade 

 

The “new” luxurious Thohoyandou taxi rank, which has not been operational since it was built a decade ago, remains abandoned and of no use to local commuters in the area.

The multimillion-rand taxi rank was supposed to make life easier for many commuters in the Vhembe area, but has instead become a den for thieves and a brothel at dusk.

The estimated R280 million project, built by the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport, was meant to reduce traffic congestion in the area. The project was completed almost a decade ago and proclaimed then as “one of its kind” in the province. However, it now appears to have been just another gross waste of taxpayer’s money.

The scheduled opening of the facility was postponed by the Thulamela Municipality on several occasions. Rumours began doing the rounds that the building was not usable as the contractor used cheap materials that made the facility unsatisfactory.

Tshifhiwa Mudzili, a resident of Block J in Muledane, said he was tired of waiting for the taxi rank to open. “This thing has been here for a long time and we are tired of seeing it and not being able to use it,” he said. He also complained that the taxi rank was a hotspot for criminal activities. “People are being mugged there and no one is saying anything about it.”

Thulamela Business Forum’s Mbulungeni Ntsieni said the opening of the rank was long overdue. “We have on a number of occasions been promised that it would open, but that never happened. A good transport system fuels growth in the economy. Without proper ranks, we are promoting lawlessness, as illegal ranks spring up all over town. Commuter dignity is compromised too as there are no adequate ablution [facilities] for all,” Ntsieni said.

“As a business community, our members booked stalls here, but the municipality keeps on postponing the commissioning of the facility. There must be progress on this issue. Taxpayers’ monies were used here and if they feel it is not suitable, they can just change it to something else or simply demolish it.”

The DA in Limpopo, who has been openly questioning what is happening at the rank, said that they welcomed the opening of the rank, which is to take place later this year.

Spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Roads and Transport Matome Moremi said the structural defects had been fixed and the facility had been declared safe by structural engineers. He said the delay in commissioning the rank was as a result of contractual differences with contractors. “We resolved the challenges, and we hope to commission the taxi rank by the end of the year,” Moremi said.

 

 

Date:08 May 2021

By: Maanda Bele

Maanda  Bele, born and raised in Nzhelele Siloam, studied journalism at the Tshwane University of Technology.

He is passionate about current news and international affairs.

He worked as part of the Zoutnet team as an intern in 2017.

He is currently a freelance journalist specialising in news from the Vhembe district.

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