The congestion that takes place on a daily basis sees vehicles backed up with traffic moving at a snail’s pace due to one lane being completely taken over by taxis that use it for parking.
The road sees a lot of commuters especially during peak hours when taxis fill up and exit the rank. Private motorists and trucks also use the road to access the industrial area or as a thoroughfare to Aqua Park and other business areas near the rank.
According to Greater Tzaneen Municipality (GTM) spokesperson, Neville Ndlala, the taxis are using the lane to park due to accommodation issues on where they should park. They previously used to park near the river but palisade fences were erected to ensure there was no encroaching on the river which led to the taxis using one lane of the road to park. Ndlala said they were aware of the congestion that takes place on the road.
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“We send out traffic officers who issue fines, but there is a greater challenge to accommodate the taxis as the drivers wait to pick up commuters.” He said they had been in talks with the taxi associations to find a solution to the issue; one of which was looking at a number of places where they can park.
He said it was a bit further away from the rank and the associations were not happy and talks between them broke down. “We then engaged the Tzaneng Mall adjacent to the rank, and the mall proposed a plan to build parking bays for the taxis.”
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He said the proposal will probably quell the issue as they will then have parking and not park on the road. Ndlala said there would be a follow-up meeting on the proposed plans with the mall regarding a timeline but currently, despite traffic official intervention, the situation is worsening.
“We issue fines but that does not seem to deter them. The biggest problem is a designated area where they can be accommodated. The resistance is due to the distance of the suggested areas, but the mall which has a large customer base that uses taxis to and from the mall proposed the construction.” With regard to consistent monitoring, Ndlala said they have capacity challenges in terms of traffic officers to deploy at the rank to enforce bylaws.
He said they did not have many officers to deploy to ensure that the situation does not get out of hand and traffic is backed up; or accidents due to a large number of cars using the road especially on month-end weekends which see double the traffic.
